Primary Schools’ Cricket getting a rebirth

The rebirth of primary schools’ Cricket here has begun, with the commencement of the Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) West St George T/20 competition, among five schools.{{more}}

The competition bowled off last Sunday at the Belair Playing Field, or the Madam Louie Playing Field, as it is commonly called by villagers.

All five participating schools were part of a five over per side Ball-O-Rama Competition.

The participating schools are the First Caribbean International Bank Sion Hill Government, the St Vincent Teachers Co-operative Credit Union Belmont Government, the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force Belair Government, Coreas/ Hazells Inc. Gomea Methodist and LOG Enterprises Dorsetshire Hill Government.

Played on a knock-out format, the Gomea Methodist emerged as champions, defeating the Belair Government in the finals.

A noticeable feature of the day was the smartly decked out players in their jerseys and white pants and caps to go with them.

The teams were part of an impressive and colourful March Past and Opening Ceremony, which sandwiched the Ball-O-Rama Competition.

And, there were some added attractions as there was face painting and bouncing castles, creating a fun filled and festive atmosphere for the day’s proceedings.

Deviating from the norm, teams are allowed to include females in their outfits, with Belmont Primary sporting four; Gomea Methodist, three and Belair Government, two.

Addressing the large gathering of spectators were Parliamentary Representative of West St George and Minister of Tourism, Sports and Culture, Hon. Cecil Mc Kie; Managing Director of the local franchise of KFC Ormiston “Ken” Boyea; Manager of the National Sports Council Osbourne Browne, Director of Sports and Physical Education Nelson Hillocks, Earl Bennett from the Ministry of Education and Chairman of the Organizing Committee Ashford Wood.

Wood revealed that apart from the attractive trophies which are at stake and the bragging rights, the twenty best players emerging from the competition will be pooled to get specialized training, and will be part of the national Under-15 Cricket Competition.

Additionally, according to Mc Kie, the players will be part of a mentorship programme, twinned with players from the SVG Masters Cricket Competition.

All speakers concurred that the competition will go a long way in helping to revive primary schools’ Cricket, which has been absent from the national calendar for several years now.

The two venues for the competition are the Belair Playing Field and the Dorsetshire Hill Playing Field.

Matches in the competition are scheduled for weekends, as well as Wednesdays. (RT)