By Calvin Roberts“Great cricketers are nurtured from their youth.” These were the words of Ms. Venita Bovell, Sales and Marketing Manager, Colonial Life Insurance Company Limited (CLICO) at the launching of that Company’s Under-15 International tournament that will be held in the West Indies. The ceremony took place in the board room of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) office yesterday.
Addressing the small gathering that included president of the GCB and vice president of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Chetram Singh, Treasurer of the GCB Ronald Williams, vice president of the GCB Malcolm Peters along with members of the media, Bovell expressed CLICO’s delight at being a part of this competition.
“At CLICO we have always viewed ourselves as not only a life insurance company, but rather a contributor to the development of our country at large due to the fact that we provide more than financial advice to our clients over the past 60 years” said Bovell “The commitment to youth cricket began four (4) years ago when CLICO (Trinidad) became the title sponsor of the West Indies Regional Under-15 competition. We at CLICO were confident that West Indies greatness can only be restored with the development of our youths, thus the nurturing of these same youths is important.
She further stated: “ As a socially conscious company, CLICO recognizes its responsibility to the wider community and continues to engage in projects that enhance the quality of life for citizens. As such, we have become a patron of sports and other community activity here in Guyana.
“Today we join forces with our parent company CLICO Trinidad and CLICO Barbados to jointly sponsor the CLICO Under-15 International Championships and we are delighted to be doing so in every meaning of the word as we see this as an investment in our Region’s youth and also a way to build our Regional community through sports. We are delighted to have been invited and even more delighted that we have said yes to the invitation.”
The Guyana leg of the tournament will commence next Saturday April 26, with two matches being played simultaneously per day at the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) and the National Stadium, Providence.
Singh took the opportunity to inform those gathered that the Ministry of Education was working along with the GCB in getting students to attend the match for which admission is free.
“The Ministry contacted us and enquired of our needs for this tournament. We will be having 1,500 students from schools around Georgetown attending matches at the GCC ground whilst another 1,000 students from the East Bank area will be attending the matches that will be played at the Stadium. Also, on the days of these games, all schools will be having double sessions (half day). Apart from this, tickets will be issued to schools and clubs.”
Singh further stated: “Under-15 is the stepping stone to international cricket and it is with great pleasure that I stand here today to congratulate CLICO for their sponsorship of this tournament. We hope that this would be a continued effort from them as we seek to revive West Indies cricket.”
Not since the year 2000 when the West Indies defeated England in the final at Lords to win the Under-15 Costcutter World Cup has there ever been an International tournament played within this age group and CLICO will be pumping over $1.3m into the competition.
Meanwhile, Amir Khan who was adjudged Guyana’s MVP of the WICB Under-15 cricket tournament recently held in Dominica is the lone Guyanese on the West Indies team.
Four teams will be competing in the Guyana leg of the competition. They are Pakistan, Holland, ICC Americas and Malaysia. The first round of games will pit Pakistan against Holland at Providence whilst ICC Americas and Malaysia will clash at GCC.
