President’s S/Ball Cup launched, tournament set from March 5 -7

Feb 08, 2021 Sports

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By Sean Devers
Kaieteur News – Organized by the Georgetown Softball Cricket League Inc. in collaboration with Guyana’s honorary Consul to Florida, the inaugural President’s Softball Cup was launched yesterday afternoon at the Everest Cricket Club.
The tournament, which will be played in three categories, (Open, O-40 and O-50) is scheduled from March 5-7 and will be played at grounds in the City.
Teams will battle for a first prize of $500,000 in each category, while the runners up in each will collect $100,000.
The fixtures have not yet been released, while Everest, GYO, MYO, YMCA and LBI are the venues set to host games.
His Excellency Dr Irfan Ali, who delivered the keynote address at the launch which was chaired by Cricket Commentator Indeerjet Persaud, said that systems will be put in place to expose Guyanese from all walks of life to a plethora of sporting disciplines.
“Today the world is going through a pandemic and people of every status of Society find themselves trying to survive a single virus.
And what we would have learnt from this is that we all have collective responsibility for each other, it’s the actions of each other, the responsibility that each one of us exercise that will determine what the outcome will be in this pandemic.
It’s a lesson we can take from a dreadful situation…it’s the actions of our brothers in the Softball cricket league, the Cricket Board that will determine who we survive collectively,” posited his Excellency, who described himself as the humble Chief Servant to the people of this Country.
“Whether Cricket survives, whether Cricket improves requires us coming together as a collective. Football, Volleyball, Badminton, Squash… requires us coming together as a collective and that is why I am so grateful and honored to be a part of this launch.
The idea of honorary Consul Mr Ramzan Roshanali and his commitment shared with the Softball league and shared nationally, giving birth to this tournament. This is what is the greatest outlook of sports is, that it can be used to break down social barriers.

You might see the child of a very wealthy family depending on the child of a poor family for the team on the field of play. Sports have many intangibles,” continued the Commander-in-Chief.
The Head of State, who played some cricket in his earlier years, said that collectively, sport is an important tool for unity and transcends barriers that hinder development in Guyana.
Efforts will also be placed on developing the human resource capacity in sports.
“We also have to work on training and developing a core group…sports facilitators, coaches and trainers, to be attached initially to a district, where we can bring a number of schools and have them in charge of the district.”
Another initiative is to promote fitness programmes in communities. Dr Ali also highlighted the need to decentralise sport from the capital city and spread it to all corners of Guyana.
“May the best team not only win, but may the best team be the best example also,” concluded Dr Ali.
Anand Sanasie, Secretary of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) said it was good that the highest office of the land, President Dr Irfaan Ali, graced the tournament with his name and his presence.
Sanasie spoke of the impact the West Indies three-wicket win had on many yesterday morning and it was like Christmas in the West Indies.
The Cricket West Indies Inc. Director added that sometimes you keep getting calls asking why the Region’s most successful spinner (Veerasammy Permaul) was sitting on the bench and if it would have made a difference but said it was the order of the day, such is cricket and all the time you are trying to do the best you could.
Sanasie commended the Softball fraternity for playing a big role of opening back this Country and helping to ease the tension caused by the Pandemic and cricket as a whole has brought some relief to the citizens.
Sanansie wished the organizers a safe tournament and said softball cricket always has the support of the GCB once he is there and committed to having Softball use the LBI facility once all formalities are met.
“At grass root levels Softball throughout Guyana it’s where the little kids start their prep in the game of cricket. I wish the tournament well,” Sanansie concluded.
Speaker of the House and President of Everest, Mansoor Nadir, speaking on behalf of Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports Charles Ramson who was unavoidably absent, told the gathering which included the Head-of-State, that Minister Ramson wished to congratulate the organizers for initiating another worthy programme for Sport in our Country.
The Speaker of the National Assemble said the Sports Minister disclosed that he is going to support sports at all levels across our entire country and wished them well.

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