Upper Corentyne businessman donates to BCB coaching project

Aug 23, 2022 Sports

– Commits to sponsoring secondary school tournament and pilot nets project

The Berbice Cricket Board continues to attract the business sector into its operation as the pro active cricket board forges ahead with numerous projects. BCB President Hilbert Foster on Saturday last visited the office of popular Upper Corentyne businessman and contractor Imran Shaffeeuallah for some major discussion on cricket development in the county with special emphasis on the Upper Corentyne Sub-Association.

BCB President Hilbert Foster receives sponsorship from Imran Shaffeeuallah.

Shaffeeuallah handed over a cheque for two hundred thousand dollars towards the ongoing BCB countywide coaching programme, which involves nineteen coaches. The BCB with the assistance of Minister of Local Government Nigel Dharamlall is organising the coaching project with the main objective of unearthing new cricketing talent across the county.

The donation would be used to obtain junior cricketing equipment for the programme especially batting pads for the smaller players. Foster expressed gratitude to the businessman for his support and stated that with the massive project in place, Berbice would continue to be the main production point for Guyana cricket. He stated that with one week completed, close to two hundred youths between the ages of eight to eighteen years have benefitted so far in Region Six, while the Region Five part would start in September.

Shaffeeuallah stated that he was very impressed with the current state of the game in Berbice and was very delighted to be a part of it. He expressed a willingness to support the development of the game on a wider scale. After a discussion with Foster, the popular businessman agreed to sponsor a cricket tournament for five schools in the area. The schools that would play in the tournament would be Tagore Memorial, Skeldon Secondary, Line Path Secondary, Central Secondary and Black Bush Polder Secondary. Foster disclosed that similar tournaments would be played in West Berbice, Lower Corentyne and Upper Corentyne. Each sub-association would have its own champion, who would then go on to play to become the overall Berbice champion. The BCB in early September would donate uniforms, cricket balls and gears to all the twenty three schools in the county for the tournament, while they would also benefit from a massive coaching programme, which would be sponsored by the National Milling Company.

The programme, which would be launched shortly, will be a six month project which would involve regular sessions in the twenty three schools by the coaches.

The Crabwood based businessman also shared his vision to the BCB President for cricket in the area and stated that the method of training by youths needs to be changed with emphasis being placed on batting long instead of trying to hit the ball a long way. With this, he urged the BCB President to look into a project to set up outdoor practice facilities across the county with nets. This he stated would allow coaches to do one on one session with promising players and also a minimum of two players to do so on a regular basis. He committed his family and business to assisting with several of them. Foster disclosed that the likely venues in the Upper Corentyne would be Crabwood Creek, Line Path, No 72 and Skeldon.

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