Windies Kiddy cricketers from Guyana, Trinidad and Jamaica are gearing up and sharpening their skills to showcase their abundant talent during the West Indies/India home series matches in August.
Supported by Cricket West Indies and presenting programme partner Scotiabank, more than 350 primary school boys and girls from across host venues Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica will be sharing the international stadiums with the West Indies and Indian cricket stars during the lunch-time interval displays on Thursday 8th, Sunday 11th and Saturday 31st August respectively.
The children participating in the interval displays represent the top primary school cricket teams from each territory who participated and excelled in the 2019 Windies Kiddy Cricket Festivals, earning the right to attend the international matches and perform in front of thousands of spectators.
The schools performing in the displays are:
Guyana: Strathspey Primary, New Guyana School, Smith Memorial, Zeelugt Primary, Tuschen Primary, Meter- Meer- Zorg Primary, Number 36 Village Primary, Latchmansingh Primary
Trinidad: Arima Boys RC School, Avocat Vedic Primary, Bamboo Settlement Government Primary, Bonne Aventure Presbyterian School, El Dorado North Hindu Primary, Mayaro Government Primary, New Grant Government Primary, Point Fortin ASJA, Renaissance Preparatory School, Riversdale Presbyterian School, San Francique Presbyterian School, Santa Maria RC Primary
Jamaica: Combined primary schools parish teams from Manchester (2019 Kiddy Cricket Festival Champion), Trelawny (2019 Kiddy Cricket Festival Runner-Up), St. Catherine, St. Andrew, Portland, St. Ann, Westmoreland and Kingston.
Cricket West Indies President, Ricky Skerritt expressed enthusiasm in seeing the fruition of the programme.
“Building a solid foundation at the base of the cricket development pathway is paramount to the resurgence and success of West Indies cricket.”
He added, “While West Indies cricket has a rich history, the only way we can continue to write new chapters and successfully move forward into the modern age of cricket is by investing, supporting and giving children in primary schools across the region, the resources to meet their fullest potential on and off the cricket field.”
“The annual interval displays give hundreds of our kiddy cricketers across the region the opportunity to attend and experience cricket at the highest level, free of charge, with the added bonus of playing on the same field with their international cricketer heroes. We know these experiences and exposure enables our children to build confidence, as they take away long lasting memories which allow them to aspire to do better in their cricket and in life”, articulated the CWI president.
Over the last two decades, Cricket West Indies and presenting partner Scotiabank have grown the Windies Kiddy Cricket programme to support cricket in over 1,000 primary school across the Caribbean, ensuring that cricket coaching services, cricket gear, equipment and primary education material are distributed to participating schools annually, so that boys and girls ages 7-12 learn the basic skills of cricket on the playing field and are engaged in the classroom using cricket as a learning vehicle.
About the WINDIES Kiddy Cricket Programme: Annually, the Windies Kiddy Cricket Programme supports cricket camps, festival, coaching session and primary education material for over 135,000 children across 15 member territories, an achievement CWI has accomplished with our long-standing presenting partner Scotiabank. (CWI)
