150 schools targeted as NSCCL begins

The Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) in partnership with Demerara Mutual Life Assurance Society on Tuesday launched the third edition of the National Secondary School Cricket League U17 competition featuring some 150 teams.
Held at the GCB’s Regent Road location, Demerara Mutual Life Assurance Society’s Executive Manager for Marketing and Sales, Clarence Perry, Administrator of the National Sports Commission/Ministry of Social Cohesion Gurvey Harry; Acting Administrator of Allied Arts Unit-Ministry of Education Lorraine Baker-King, Child Care and Protection Officer Orette Francois along with teachers and students from Chase Academy and St. Stanislaus College, were present at the launching.

Representing the Director of Sport who was out of town, Gurvey delivered a lengthy speech to the youngsters, urging them to be wise, honest and passionate about their dreams of becoming professional cricketers. He further congratulated the GCB on their journey of staging this event for another year which motivates young crickets in becoming the foundation in the sport of cricket.
Baker-King said the Allied Arts Unit –Ministry of Education, is in full support of the NSSCL as plays a huge role in the Caribbean Secondary Examination Council (CSEC) and CAPE syllabi for secondary schools, adding that cricket was chosen by majority of students as part of their physical education curriculum.
Child care was also stressed upon by Francois who expressed joy about being onboard the NSSCL train for the third year in a row.  Meanwhile, on behalf of the sponsors, Perry said his company believes that sports play an essential role in the development of youngsters and believes that lack of mental fitness affects individual’s performances.
He encouraged youngsters to take advantage of the sponsorship and make the best of it while aiming to become West Indian professional cricketers. Closing off the launching was GCB Secretary, Anand Sanasie who said the GCB was grateful to have the support of the government and sponsors alike.
He said that some four years ago the GCB decided that they needed to have educated match referees, umpires and other match officials to be a part of the cricket arena in order to make cricket a success, adding that all of their coaches have completed the Child Protection Course.
Sanasie further indicated that the programme has been getting better by the year and believes school cricket has become a vivid pathway for talented players to ascend from school to county and national cricket levels.
A number of players have transitioned from the NSCCL with current Chase Academy student Sachin Singh being a part of the league for the past two years and has since gone onto play for Guyana at the junior levels and even captained the West Indies Under-16 team on a tour to England.
The tournament which commenced on Tuesday will see a number of matches being played simultaneously across venues in Guyana on a weekly basis, with teams looking to overthrow reigning champs Lower Corentyne Secondary School.