For children and youth who might still think of cricket as a weird chirping bug instead of a sport, the California Cricket Academy for Youth is offering a free way to change their minds.

On June 12, the academy is offering a Cricket Clinic at the Cupertino library field at 10 a.m. The clinic is open to all interested and no registration is required.

The California Cricket Academy for Youth has been in operation since the summer of 2003 and offers classes in Fremont and Cupertino. Seventy children are currently completing the academy's spring training. For more information, visit www.calcricket.org or call 408.777.9983.

Performance to help
local disabled kids

Cupertino will be the site of one of the three Northern California stops of the China Disabled People's Performing Art Troupe, and it's all to benefit their younger counterparts.

The performance, on June 13 at the Flint Center, will benefit Friends of Children with Special Needs and Association of Chinese Families with the Disabled, both nonprofit organizations that assist people with disabilities.

The troupe is composed of physically and mentally handicapped artists who sing, play a number of musical instruments and perform modern Chinese dances and ballet. Previous U.S. performances have taken place at Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Center.

The performance is at 8 p.m. on June 13. Tickets range from $30 to $100 and are available online at www.ticketmaster.com. For more information, visit www.cdppat.org, and for group tickets, call 415.392.0645.