Florida Cup Softball Tournament bowls off today

By Ravi Madholall

The 2017 Florida Cup softball tournament bowls off today at the Brian Piccolo Park, in Fort Lauderhill and several Guyanese teams will be vying for supremacy at the annual event

This year marks the 13th year in succession and teams are also expected from New York, Canada and the hosts, along with six teams from the Land of Many Waters. Guyana Floodlights Softball Cricket Association (GFSCA) will be having two teams participating in the Masters category. The A team are the defending champions and once again is being led by the veteran right-handed batsman Ricky Deonarain.

The B team will also have a large number of seasoned campaigners and will be looking to make an impression on this occasion after only reaching the quarter-final stage last year. Both Regal Masters and All-Stars teams are no doubt looking to take centre stage, having done well at home on a frequent basis, while their impact at the annual New York Cup by winning the All-Stars competition can be motivating.

The other two teams competing are Speed Boat X1 and Wolf’s Warriors and they are set to take part in the All-Stars (Open Category). Just before their departure, GFSCA president Ramcharran Ragbeer had expressed great confidence in the A team retaining the trophy and is very optimistic the B side can emulate them. He further stated that the GFSCA is more than delighted to feature in this softball extravaganza. He stated that without hesitation, the two teams are also excited to play in the tournament, but they have got to be consistent in all departments.

Reflecting on what had transpired in their own tournament, the Guyana Cup, the sixth edition in 2016, Ramcharran declared it was another successful tournament and thanked the overseas teams to support and take part on an annual basis. Just after the conclusion of the Florida Cup tournament on Sunday when the two finals will be played at the international venue, the beautiful Central Broward Regional Park and Stadium, both GFSCA teams are heading across to the annual Orlando Softball Tournament as well.

In addition to the various teams and individual prizes in the Florida Cup, there is a cash prize of US$3000 for the winners of the All-Stars competition and US$2000 for the champions of old guys category.

Meanwhile, with preparations are already underway for the Toronto Cup 2, several Guyana teams will be taking part as well. At the inaugural tournament in 2015, both the GFSCA teams attended with the A team reaching the finals, losing to Canadian side Our Own Sports Club in the championship game played at the University of Scarborough Campus venue, in Toronto. President of the Ontario Masters Softball Cricket Association, Azeem Khan stated that he and executives have been in steady meetings to ensure that they will be having another successful event.

His team also participated in the Guyana Cup last year with limited success but they too are hoping to come out on top of the Florida Cup in Masters Division.