University of the Pacific’s cricket club has enjoyed a remarkable year, highlighted by the completion of a new cricket field on Brookside Field. This addition supports Pacific’s growing South Asian community and has put a spotlight on cricket at the university. 

As the Fall 2024 semester begins, club president Dev Desai ’25 plans to expand campus involvement by launching an intramural cricket league, to encourage students, faculty and staff to participate. The club aims to enhance its training regimen and organize competitive matches with the Stockton Cricket Club and other universities to improve performance. Dev hopes these efforts will promote cricket within the university and provide a fun, competitive environment for all skill levels. 

“This year, we aim to lay the foundation for a stronger, more dynamic cricket club that will thrive for years to come,” Dev said. 

Cricket makes students feel at home 

Pacific’s cricket club was first created in 2022 with the help of Pacific Recreation and launched with just 15 members. Under the guidance of Niraj Chaudary, fellow cricket player and dean of the William Knox Holt Memorial Library and Learning Center, Pacific has since provided more resources to the team and has accommodated the rising community of South Asian international students. The club now welcomes dozens of players to each practice. 

“The game that we missed so much when came here, now it’s something that we play every week,” said club member Yusuf Ejaz ’24, a business analytics major from New Delhi, India. 

Most of Pacific’s cricket club members come from South Asia where cricket is most popular: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Bhutan and Nepal. However, the club welcomes all Pacific students. 

“Our club is all about inclusivity, and we’re proud to have members from different parts of the world,” Yusuf said.  

The club meets several times a week to accommodate different schedules and accepts new members of all skill levels. 

Sharing cricket with the community  

In addition to improving the team’s performance, Dev wants to make cricket more popular in California. In December, Dev and the rest of the club will partner with the City of Stockton to provide a free cricket sports clinic that will teach Stockton youth how to play cricket. Dev believes this would not only enrich the sports community in Stockton but also raise awareness about the sport.  

“By fostering a love for the game at an early age, we can build a stronger, more connected community with a shared enthusiasm for cricket,” Dev said. “I believe this program will have a positive impact on both the children and the broader community, enhancing our university’s reputation and community involvement.” 

Dev is optimistic about the team and sport’s future as he aims to lay the foundation for a stronger and more dynamic cricket club for years to come.  

Follow Pacific’s Cricket Club on Instagram. 

Learn about Pacific’s international student experience

Visit Pacific’s website

International Students

When students are back on campus, you can find members of Pacific Billiards Club—or as they nicknamed themselves “Stripes and Solids”—at the Lair in the DeRosa University Center pretty much at any time.  

They are in it for the game and for the tight friendships they have formed since the club started about three years ago. Their 10 members represent majors in communications, economics, English, math, graphic design, music and health exercise. We talked to club president Isabel Enriquez ’21 

Q: How did you decide to join the club? 

Isabel Enriquez ’21, club president, graphic design major: I actually co-founded the club with my partner, about two or three years ago. When he graduated, I became president. Basically, the reason why we started the club in the first place was that we were there so often, and we had been making a group of friends who always played pool, and we just decided to make an actual club of it. We wanted to grow that community as much as we could. 

Q: Did you already know how to play pool when you came to Pacific? 

Isabel: Not that much, to be honest. Pool definitely became a bigger part of my life when I first came to Pacific. Before that, I would go with my dad, who is a professor, to his work in summer and I would just be playing pool in a student lounge a little bit over the summer while he was teaching. So, that’s what was my initial interest and then, when I came to Pacific, it just increased by tenfold. 

Q: How important is the club in your life as a student? 

Isabel Enriquez: Pool became a bigger part of my life because of the people that I met through playing pool. I like to think that our club is definitely a close community, and I really pride myself about how close our community is and how close our friendships are. 

Q: How can someone become a member of the club? 

Isabel: People can usually find us at the Lair playing pool almost any time of the day or when we had our weekly club meetings pre-pandemic. At the moment, they can reach out either through email or Instagram. The whole point of the club is just to make the sport fun and enjoyable, and it is also a chance to hang out together and meet new people. 

Q: How good do you have to be at billiards to join the club? 

Isabel: I like to think that we’re very inclusive, and we always try to invite new people whenever we see someone new playing pool at the Lair. That’s usually our main way of getting new members. There’s no certain time that they have to become a member; it’s more just timing or opportunity.   

As for how good you have to be, there’s no expectation whatsoever. We welcome anyone who might be slightly interested or anyone who’s done this for a long time. 

Q: Where do you usually play and hold your meetings? 

Isabel: Our meetings would be upstairs in the Lair since that’s where the two pool tables are at Pacific. But sometimes, just for a change of pace, we would go out to public pool halls like Eddie’s Pizza in Stockton. They also have just more billiards tables so, more people have an opportunity to play. 

Q: What events and activities do you normally have in the club during the year? 

Isabel: During our general meetings once a week, we would have workshops for anybody who would like to learn. Aside from that, we would also have tournaments at least once a semester, and that was open to anyone in the public. You did not have to be part of the club. Also, we used to play against other schools, but that was a bit complicated, and I’m not sure if we’ll be moving forward with that anymore. 

Q: Billiards is really an in-person sport, how did the club members stay in contact during the pandemic? 

Isabel: It’s been a bit of a struggle. None of us have gotten to play much since most of the pool halls closed in our areas. But we kept in contact on Discord and we usually played video games and have voice calls pretty often. Over the spring break, we decided to come back to Stockton campus and then went up to Sacramento because there was a pool hall open there, and we just wanted to make a day of it. 

Q: What do members of your club geek out about? 

Isabel: A lot of us have such different personalities, the beauty of it is that we all geek out about different things or get excited about different things. 

Q: Do you require your members to have their own cues? 

Isabel: We don’t require members to have their own cues. When we first started out, the club had our own cues which we lent to other members. Eventually, if members had enough interest in the sport and decided they wanted to make that investment, we’d help them choose a decent cue. 

Q: Is there anything else that you would like people to know about the club? 

Isabel: We’re very welcoming. We always encourage new people to join. We’re very encouraging about learning, about getting better, making each other better, because there’s still that healthy competition among each other. 

To contact Stripes and Solids, Pacific Billiards Club: 

Instagram @pacificstripesorsolids  

Email at uopstripesorsolids@gmail.com

Founded in 2011, Pacific Stocktones are the only student-run, co-ed a capella ensemble at University of the Pacific. Any Pacific student who loves to sing is welcome to audition. Today, their 11 members represent majors in psychology, English, Media X, speech language pathology, music industry studies, music therapy, music management and music education. 

Q: Who are Pacific Stocktones?

Curtiss Wright ’21, music education major: I would probably say anyone who loves to sing. When I auditioned to Stocktones, I had never sung in an ensemble. That was my first intro to singing so, for me, it was about wanting to be making music. That goes beyond the boundaries of your major or academic interests as we have people, like Gianna, who are not music majors. 

Q: Gianna, how did you find out about Pacific Stocktones since you’re not a conservatory student?

Gianna Gonzales ’23, psychology major: I had created an a capella group at my high school and I was planning on doing the same thing at Pacific unless there was already such a group. So, I emailed the conservatory and got an answer back from Stocktones inviting me to their auditions.

Q: How important is this club to a non-music major?

Gianna: Generally speaking, I spend so much time studying and just doing homework that I don’t really get to do much music, so this is the majority of my musical activity.

Q: Explain what an a capella ensemble is.

Dion Nickelson ’22, music education major: This question actually comes up a lot when I talk about Stocktones. A capella music is simply making music without any musical instruments. It’s all about the voice, so you’ll hear a lot of harmonies or beatboxing. You also hear percussion elements in the actual singing and have some rhythmic elements that imitate instruments.

Q: What is the history of a capella singing?

Dion: You can date a capella music back to when music first originated. You can also look back to Gregorian chants using just the voice to make music. Beatboxing and imitating instruments came a lot later.

Q: How do you choose songs to perform or record?

Dion: We like choosing music that really represents us as an ensemble. We have our own vibe that we try to pick off of. This can range from genres like pop, hip hop, R&B, rap, popular songs or oldies as well. We choose music that we just enjoy singing.

Curtiss: We’re always making sure that whatever we’re doing, we’re enjoying. There have been a couple circumstances when we were told what we need to do but we made the best of it and still had fun with it. Plus, as the group changes, our repertoire will kind of reflect on who’s in the ensemble at the time.

Also, we try to utilize the resources we have within our ensemble as well, so the repertoire we are using, at least in part, comes from the conservatory, from our composition majors.

Q: How can students join the ensemble?

Curtiss: Essentially, a lot depends on the size of our group. Being an a capella ensemble our numbers don’t really push too far into the double digits. If we have enough room, we will either hold an audition once or twice per academic year, depending on our need. We always ask people to audition as often as they can.

Q: Where can people get information about Stocktones?

Gianna: When auditions come around, it is all on the website. Getting in touch with us is best through any of our social media platforms. And someone will always be there to accept the messages and reply to any questions.

Q: Despite the pandemic, are you working on any new music?

Curtiss: Yes! In March, we had a premiere of a song that we collaboratively wrote, performed and video-recorded, all distanced. The piece is called “Hold on to Me.” It’s completely original. We used the committee system to put it all together. It was a very interesting process, collaborative composition is not something I would usually see very often, but it was a really amazing experience. Anybody can watch it on our Youtube channel now (or below).

Q: What is the best place to sing on the campus?

Gianna: When we did Singing Valentines last year in person, we got to sing in the cafeteria which was really cool. I think the combination of the open seating area, but also the more enclosed food area, made it sound really great and we could hear everybody, and it was super fun. The acoustics were great from where I was standing.

Dion: So, I have two places: the columns by the Knoles Hall and also right outside of Buck Hall there’s a little roofed area which has really nice acoustics.

Curtiss: My favorite would be the Choral Rehearsal Hall because that’s where we all are twice a week and it’s just awesome. I miss it dearly. It may be acoustically not the most intense space but we just have so much fun when we rehearse there, and so I think it’s unbeatable.

Q: Describe in one word what Pacific Stocktones mean to you.

Gianna: We actually were asked that question a long time ago and I think my answer remains the same, and that is family.

Dion: The word that came to my mind was dynamics, but more like family dynamics.

Curtiss: I was thinking family collaborative you know unified, but the one that I’m going to end up with is colorful. We have a great array of majors, races, sexualities, you know, we’ve had one of everything. We just love each other and want to make music and have fun. On one side it’s a collaborative family, a cohesive unit and on the other side there’s just so much color and life, it’s so vibrant and there’s never a dull moment.