“Since the election of the new administration of the Berbice Cricket Board in early 2018, we have stressed the importance of education. The BCB strongly believes that the pursuit of an educational background is just as important as striving to become a cricket superstar as only about two percentage of our current youth players would go on to become a professional cricketer. You must remember at all times that what you have in your brain can never be taken away from you and the BCB is determined to make sure that each one of our young players understand the importance of education.”
Those were the words of BCB President Hilbert Foster when he delivered the feature address of the Vitality Inc., Education Trust Fund at the St Francis Community Developers Training Centre recently.
Some 13 under-17 players, drawn from the Upper Corentyne area received a combined $260,000 under the BCB-organised programme.
The players each benefitted from a $20,000 voucher, which they would exchange at the Metro Office Supplies Store in New Amsterdam for educational materials.
Among the players were Jamiel Clarke, Khemraj Sukwah, Ramesh Singh, Davindra Persaud, Orlando Campbelle, Emanuel Isaacs, Salim Khan, Isaac Chandan and Tavindra Doobay.
Foster disclosed that the players were selected by the Upper Corentyne Cricket Association (UCCA) based on personal discipline, performance in the classroom, membership of a cricket club and commitment to the game.
The Cricket West Indies Director used his half- an-hour feature address to speak on a wide range of topics including the dangers of drugs, the importance of education, faith in God, and respect to elders and choosing suitable friends.
“The BCB,” he stated, “has over the last three years assisted hundreds of youths with educational materials, school bags and cycles while dozens this year have benefitted from educational grants.”
The BCB has also sponsored a one year educational scholarship for a cricketer attending the University of Guyana.
Foster disclosed that the next area to benefit from the programme would be the Berbice River Sub Association while more students from the Upper Corentyne, Lower Corentyne, West Berbice and New Amsterdam/Canje areas will also receive grants.
“The main objective is to assist at least 70 cricketers with grants in 2021 while school bags will also be shared out with educational materials,” he said.
Special thanks were extended to the Management of Vitality Inc., for their support of Berbice cricket.
In addition to sponsoring the Educational Trust Fund, the company and its Charity Foundation, recently donated $1.4M worth of cricket gear to eight Berbice clubs and sponsored a 20/20 cricket tournament for Upper Corentyne clubs. The Vitality Inc., Foundation will also construct a home for a less fortunate employee of the BCB. The construction for the mother of five is expected to start shortly after some minor arrangements are put into place. This would represent a first of its kind for the pro-active cricket board, which is now focusing on off the field activities due to the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic.
Director of Vitality Inc., Abbas Hamid, stated that his company was very pleased with the state of development taking place with cricket in Berbice and was delighted to be associated with it.
He joined with Foster in stressing the importance of education and discipline. Vitality, he noted, was committed to playing a major role in the development of Guyana and intends to become a major force in the country by offering service of the highest standard.
The company is a $2B investment in Guyana with special interest in the Oil and Gas sector. Among the subsidiaries of Vitality Inc., are Vitality Supplies and Vitality Accounting/Consultancy.
