USA Cricket appoints Johnathan Atkeison as CEO to meet ICC requirements

Dallas, July 28 (SocialNews.XYZ) USA Cricket (USAC) on Saturday named Johnathan Atkeison as its new CEO, effective August 1. Atkeison, most recently Chief Operating Officer of USA Rugby, joins USA Cricket with more than 15 years of experience in national governing bodies, spanning performance, grassroots development and business management.

This comes after the International Cricket Council (ICC) earlier this week issued them a warning over the lack of an appropriate administrative and governance structure and framework.

With the designation, USAC met one of the two essential requirements to remain an ICC Associate Member. In order to obtain National Governing Body (NGB) status – which is required for all sports included in the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles – the other need was to meet the governance standards set by the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC).

Atkeison comes to USA Cricket with a wealth of experience in the national governance environment. After spending the early part of his career as a coach and staff member for national team programs, he began his administrative career as a development executive overseeing community competitions. After leading USA Rugby through a financial restructuring in 2020, Atkeison led the organization through a four-year period of rapid growth and development, highlighted by the transformation of USA Rugby’s membership system and digital properties, the creation of a professional development team focused on producing the next generation of national team players, and the awarding of the 2031 and 2033 Rugby World Cups to be hosted in the United States.

“I am honored to join the USA Cricket team. It is an incredible time for the sport here in the United States with the historic performance of the men’s national team in the recent T20 World Cup, the completion of the second season of Major League Cricket and the first opportunity to showcase cricket at the Olympics here on home soil during the LA28 matches. Our goal is to build a world-class organization to capitalize on that momentum and firmly establish cricket’s position in the American sports landscape,” Atkeison said in a statement.

“The passion the cricket community has for the game is amazing and the enthusiasm is infectious. I can’t wait to get started,” he added.

USA Cricket President Venu Pisike said, “USAC is excited to welcome Johnathan to the leadership team. We anticipate working closely with him to enhance and broaden the organization’s mission and purpose to serve the cricket community across the country. With promising growth prospects on both the men’s and women’s cricket horizons, there is optimism that Johnathan will make valuable contributions to these efforts.”

Source: IANS