Who We Are
The Warriors
of Change
The Maasai Cricket Warriors began with a South African researcher named Aliya Bauer who, in 2007, was studying baboons near Il Polei village in Laikipia and missed cricket. She taught the locals, and the Maasai immediately connected with the game — seeing the ball as a spear and the bat as a shield. By 2009, young warriors had formed the only Maasai cricket team in the world.
Dressed in their red shuka, beaded necklaces, and traditional sandals — never in cricket whites — the Warriors chose to carry their culture onto every pitch. Their captain, Sonyanga Ole Ngais, grew up watching his sisters be cut and married off. The team pledged they would not marry any woman who had undergone FGM — and backed the pledge with action.
— Sonyanga Ole Ngais, Captain
Their 2013 journey to the Last Man Stands World Championship in London became the turning point captured in the Warriors documentary (2015). Seeing the wider world gave them the courage to face their own elders directly. The film premiered in Los Angeles, screened across the UK, South Africa and Kenya, and earned a 7.2/10 on IMDb. 45% of profits go directly to the Il Polei community trust fund.
