Minister of Social Cohesion with responsibility for Sport Dr. George Norton said the upcoming “Guyana Softball Cup 7” organized by the Guyana Floodlight Softball Cricket Association (GFSCA), will “Help to raise the sports profile in Guyana.”
Minister Norton, who delivered the feature address on Wednesday’s official launching of the competition at the Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) Pavilion, said that the initiative will “Boost Guyanese socially and mentally,” adding that “the tourism will benefit” from the competition and sports overall.
Floodlights are the defending champions of the Masters Title
The Minister further hailed the executives of the GFSCA for properly sustaining a tournament of such magnitude over the years. He also gave special thanks to the numerous sponsors who continue to support sports in Guyana, while expressing gratitude to the members of the Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) for hosting the final for the third successive year and also for allowing schools to host their annual inter-house sports.
Guyana Softball Cup 7 will see a high numbers of overseas teams in the two categories; Open and Masters. Teams form; New York, Florida, Orlando and Canada have signaled their participation and continued support for the tournament in Guyana.
GFSCA President Ramchand Ragbeer during his brief remarks said that the association was working hard on making the 7th edition of the annual tournament a success and expects a smooth run over the duration of the competition while his Vice-President Jailall Deodass stated that he’s happy that the competition continues to grow from strength to strength with each edition.
The tournament will run from November 3 to 5 with the finals billed for the Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) under lights. Winners of the Open category will cart off with $800,000 while the Masters champions are set to collect $600,000 along with trophies while spectators are set to win lots of gate prizes including trips to local resorts compliments of Survival Business Group.
Additionally, on the day of finals there will be a four-team female cricket competition which will serve as exhibition to the Open and Masters finals.
DCC Vice-President Roger Harper, who was a part of the launching, credited the GFSCA for the work they have been doing not only in the cricket fraternity but at the DCC ground where they have played integral parts in the modification of the venue and tangible support to the club itself.
Guyana Cup 7 chairman Anil Beharry indicated that this year will supersede the success of the previous years while representatives of a few main sponsors; Ronda Johnson of Rubis Guyana, Sheldon Hazelwood of Ansa Mcal, Avinash Hardat of Clear Water, Mark DeFreitas of Survival Travel Agency and Ajay Jha of Mike’s Pharmacy all expressed joy at being a part of the venture for yet another year.
Speed Boat are the defending champions of the All-Star or Open category while Floodlights hold the title of champions in the Masters category.
