‘We ready for the Biggest Party in Sports’

Jul 14, 2015 Sports

(From left) Troy Peters, Sabrina Panday, Kurt Douglas, Commander Clifton Hickens & George Vyphuis at yesterday’s briefing.

Guyana on track for four CPL home matches

By Sean Devers

It’s the biggest party in sports and Guyanese are expected to pack the Providence Stadium to its capacity for tomorrow’s clash against Chris Gayle’s 2013 champions Jamaica Tallawahs and two times runners-up Guyana Amazon Warriors from 18:00hrs and according the local CPL committee they are ready to successfully host the mega event.
Kurt Douglas informed the media that prior to match day a lot goes into planning for the event and informed since the latest win by the Warriors against the Tallawahs in Jamaica, there has been a tremendous increase in the sale of tickets for tomorrow’s opening game.
Douglas explained some of the aspects that have to be dealt with are Branding and Sponsorship, the sale of merchandise and tickets, ensuring that facilities for the fans, the players and the Media are in place and most importantly that everyone feels safe.
George Vyphuis, who is in charge of security and safety, informed that the Guyana Police Force will be supported by a private Security Firm and stressed that the aim is not to deprive fans of their enjoyment but to ensure they do not contravene any regulations that are in place for their safety.
He listed the prohibited and restricted items that cannot be brought into the ground and also touched on what systems would be put in place to combat the anticipated traffic build up on match days.
Among the prohibited items are Firearms, Weapons, Knives and imitation weapons, fireworks, explosives, Flammable Items, mace and gas containers. No glass bottles, no branded plastic bottles other than CPL sponsors are allowed in the Stadium.
No Alcohol, illegal drugs or narcotics or Video Cameras while the restricted items include no large umbrellas, no Cooler larger than 12x12x12 and no flags and banners smaller than 5×3.
The Warriors will play in all four of the games here and after tomorrow’s clash will come up against the St Lucia Zouks on Friday from 20:00hrs, the Barbados Tridents from 16:00hrs on Saturday and T&T Red Steels from 18:00hrs next Tuesday.
Sabrina Panday who is the Stadium Staff Coordinator said that 125 staff members have been hired including 22 ticketing staff and tickets which are going ‘fast’ can be bought at Courts stores on Main Street, New Amsterdam, Parika and Linden. Tickets can also be bought at booths outside the Stadium.
Panday informed that Hits & Jams and their DJs have been hired to provide musical entertainment which will last an hour after each game ends, while Chow-Pow is the MC on the public address system. The seats are all numbered with corresponding digits on the tickets.
Panday further stated that for the Red Steel game a large amount of overseas visitors are expected.
Commander Clifton Hickens pointed out that the Guyana Fire Service and an Ambulance from the Red Cross will be in attendance. He also explained that Police will start monitoring traffic from Mandela Avenue right up to the stadium, while Cars could be parked outside the ground between the Stadium and the Princess Hotel for a fee $500 and inside the Stadium for a fee of $1,000.
VIPs will use the second Gate on the East Bank Public Road, while the VVIPs which include the President, Ministers and other dignitaries and a limited number of specially invited Guest will need the use the ‘back gate’ to get into the venue.
Hickens disclosed that Police will be standing both in the front and at the back of the stands as they aim to maintain crowd control at a venue that could accommodate 15,000 fans.
Troy Peters dealt with the Media Issues and declared that only accredited Media workers will be allowed in the Media Centre, while photographers will need a ‘Pitch pass’ to be allowed on the ground to take photos.
Guyana are 5th on the points table with 6 points from 6 matches but all of the other teams except T&T (5 points from 5 matches) and St Kitts and Nevis (8 points from 9 matches) have played 8 games with Barbados leading the points table with 10 points from 8 matches.
Three wins from the four matches at home will see the Warriors marching into the semi-finals in Trinidad.