75 schools training for Republic Bank’s “Five for Fun” cricket competition

As the Republic Bank’s “Five for Fun” cricket programme rolls closer to the County and Country Festival Finals, scheduled for early March 2023, seventy-five primary schools from across the three counties are continuing their cricket training in order to get their teams ready to defeat their opponents in the “Five for Fun” zonal preliminary round of matches.
The zonal preliminary matches will be played between February 13 and 24, with five schools in each zone competing to emerge as zonal champions in order to secure a spot in the Republic Bank’s “Five for Fun” county finals.
Participating primary schools have been grouped into 15 zones, which include Upper Corentyne, Lower Corentyne, West Berbice, New Amsterdam, Canje, Upper Demerara, East Bank Demerara, Georgetown, East Coast Demerara, West Demerara, Leguan, Wakenaam Island, South Essequibo Coast, East Bank Essequibo, South Essequibo Coast, and North Essequibo Coast.
Republic Bank’s “Five for Fun” cricket is part of the CWI Future Stars Programme to introduce cricket to primary school-aged children. This new five-a-side format drives participation, activity and inclusivity with mixed teams of boys and girls.
As the representative of Cricket West Indies (CWI) and the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB), Reon King, former Guyana and West Indies player, is the programme coordinator. He has revealed that: “Over 1,000 primary school boys and girls have already been exposed to “Five for Fun” cricket training, providing them with the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of the game.
He explained that from a cricket perspective, both CWI and GCB are excited about giving our children the opportunity to play and learn the game in fun, safe environments. From all feedback from coaches, teachers and some parents, the children are excited about the programme, and can’t wait to showcase their skills during the first stage of matches at the zonal preliminaries.
King added: “This programme is critical to the foundation of the cricket development pathway, especially as we restart cricket post COVID-19, both recreationally and competitively in primary and secondary schools across Guyana. Since its launch in June 2022 to this point, the programme has offered over 30 existing cricket coaches the opportunity to complete refresher coaching courses, and has exposed school teachers to foundation level coach education training.
“We are extremely grateful for Republic Bank’s partnership on this initiative. With the support of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Sports to make this important initiative a reality,” King has said.
Dr. Ritesh Tularam, Deputy Chief Education Officer, in commenting said, “The Ministry of Education is pleased to be a partner with Cricket West Indies, Republic Bank Limited, and the Guyana Cricket Board on this timely cricket initiative at the primary schools’ level, which intersects and complements the Education Sector’s Plan for 2021-2025; Vision 2030. This initiative supports the plan’s core objective to ensure the well-rounded development of students through formal and informal education platforms such as sports.”