By Royston Alkins
The name Scotiabank has long been associated with the development of West Indies, and more so Kiddy Cricket for nearly two decades now. The pattern continued yesterday at the Guyana Cricket Board’s (GCB) boardroom when the entity in conjunction with the GCB and West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) launched the annual Scotiabank Kiddy Cricket Program around 13:00 hours.
GCB’s territorial development officer, Colin Stuart in his opening remarks, expressed gratitude towards the sponsors Scotiabank and briefly outlined the makeup of the Kiddy programs.
“The program will include 210 schools with 20 students being targeted from each school,” Stuart said.
Stuart, outlined other technical aspects of the program which commences on 21st February, with the Coaching Education aspect, followed by Cricket Is My Game – Learn It, and Meet the emerging player, which captures the intervention of national, academy and promising youth players in schools, in an effort to motivate students to become goal achievers.
The final phase of the Scotiabank Kiddy 2017, will see tomorrow’s West Indian hopefuls participating in the Competition phase from the 28th February. This will be followed by an international display on the 9th of April during the lunch-break of the One Day International between West Indies and Pakistan, at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.
Scotiabank’s Marketing Manager Jennifer Cipriani, speaking at the launch indicated that, “as we embark on the 2017 Kiddy Cricket Program, it is my wish that the hundreds of Kiddy cricketers involved in this program develop not only their cricketing skills, but also their life skills, giving us emotional intelligent youth and adults who are equipped to make good choices.”
She went on to state that Scotiabank continues to be proud of its almost 18-years association with Kiddy Cricket, one of the longest running sponsorships in the Caribbean Region.
President of the Guyana Cricket Board, Drubahadur, in his brief remarks said, “Pretty much every time it comes around to this occasion, Scotiabank for the last 18-years has been sponsoring this event.” The president continued by encouraging students present at the launch to play the sport in good spirit and to be competitive while having fun.
The launched was attended by representatives from other various organizations, including Lorna Muhammad, the administrator to the Acting Chief Education Officer (Primary) of the Ministry of Education, Nicholas Fraser, the Head of the Physical Education Department of the Unit of Allied Arts (Ministry of Education,) Hazel Pyle-Lewis, representative of the Guyana Teachers’ Union, Gervy Harry, Sports Administrator of the National Sports Commission (Ministry of Education) and Taaliba Speede, Child Care And Protection Officer of the Child Care And Protection Agency.
