The Digicel Youth Cricket Series (DYCS) kicked off in April, several months ahead of the Hero CPL 2018 tournament.
The DYCS was taken to several CPL markets where young aspiring cricketers got a chance to meet and learn from their ‘heroes’ CPL brand ambassadors like Devendra Bishoo, Steven Jacobs, Johnson Charles and Anderson Phillip among others.
On Saturday, Digicel Guyana and CPL gave 20 deserving youths from Royal Rangers Cricket Club of Foulis, Enmore, a chance of a lifetime to meet members of the Guyana Amazon Warriors team shortly before played St. Lucia Stars.
After the meet and greet, the youths got to stay and watch the Guyana Amazon Warriors take on the St. Lucia Stars, compliments of Digicel, something many of them never thought possible.
“We are very pleased to be a part of this activity today, simply because providing these young people with an ‘experience’ and the possibility of changing the course of their lives through cricket is what the DYCS is all about. We are giving them opportunity to experience CPL first hand and meet and learn from their heroes. This is the essence of cricket, to foster development and growth of tomorrow’s generation. CPL exemplifies this not only in Guyana but throughout the region and Digicel cannot be any prouder to be a part of this,” Vidya Sanichara of Digicel said.
The youths, ranging from ages 12 to 17, who were given this opportunity by Digicel and CPL are mostly from broken homes with not a lot of offered opportunities.
Pastor Mahendra Sharma and other members from his Church, Foulis Elim Pentecostal Church, have taken the boys under the wings and formed a cricket club. They are using the sport of cricket to impart a sense of family and discipline for the boys, which they hope will give the lads a feeling of purpose by keeping them off the streets and interested in sports.
“This is a great opportunity given to us by Digicel today; this means a great deal to these boys and us. Many of them feel that no one cares for them and for a big company like Digicel to reach out to a small cricket club like ours is really touching to us. We will never forget this day, thank you Digicel, thank you,” noted Sharma.
For its second year, the Digicel CPL Youth Series continues to foster youth engagement and development. It has been conducted in the six competing CPL countries – Jamaica, Barbados, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Kitts & Nevis, and St. Lucia and has provided more children the opportunity to hone their cricket skills and learn from the best talent in the game. (Digicel Press Release)
