A sixteen year obsession with the game of cricket led Fred Rweru to fulfill a dream. Rweru,’07, a Physical Education major from Kampala, Uganda, was awarded the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship for 2007-2008 to conduct a year of independent study and travel outside of the United States. As the 26th Berea College student to be awarded a Watson Fellowship since1988, Rweru covered the globe studying the game of cricket and its political and social implications.

Through studying and playing the game in these countries, Rweru explored how and why the game uniquely “mutated” in the four major cricketing regions of the world. “When you study cricket in these countries you really learn about the people there, their history,” he explained. “When you talk about cricket in these countries you talk about the lives of these people.”His project “Leather, Willow and Empire: Cricket’s ‘Mutation’ in former British Colonies” led Rweru to the United Kingdom, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, India and Australia. It had always been Rweru’s dream to play cricket in all of these countries. “Cricket is important to me because it’s an avenue towards understanding and experiencing lives that revolve around the game, and in many ways examining my own self, too,” he said.

“I will play with the very best in those countries and one of the very best in the world in Australia,” said Rweru. He visited various universities and museums to talk with professors and historians who study the game, and he visited the renown Lord’s Cricket Ground in England – a site often referred to as “The Home of Cricket” – as well as the Melbourne Cricket Grounds in Australia, among others. Rweru not only played with the most elite players but also with those who play at the school and club level.

It was school level cricket that ignited Rweru’s passion for the sport. His experience as a “cricketer” began in 1990 when a coach from England sparked Rweru’s interest. “I just found it by some chance and I thought this was really coo, [and] I have been playing ever since,” he recalls. His mother declared that he was obsessed with the game, and his teachers said he needed to spend less time playing and more time on school. “I could have gotten better grades in high school, but I really loved cricket,” Rweru said. After finishing school, he continued by playing at the club level and for Uganda’s junior national team.

Interested in applying for the Watson Fellowship? Visit https://legacy.berea.edu/cie/thomas-j-watson-fellowship/ to learn about deadlines, eligibility, and how to apply!