In honour of Guyana’s first female President, Janet Jagan, the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, along with the National Sports Commission, launched the Janet Jagan Birth Anniversary Schoolgirls Wind-ball Cricket Championship at the National Gymnasium on October 23, 2023, marking 31 years since the inaugural tournament.
The competition will see 16 teams battling for supremacy – including Essequibo Islands Secondary, Good Hope Secondary, Stewartville Secondary, Diamond Primary Top, President’s College, Bladen Hall Secondary, Westminster Secondary, Lancaster Secondary, West Demerara Secondary, New Williams Secondary, Friendship Secondary, and Zeeburg Secondary.
At the launching ceremony, the Culture, Youth and Sport Minister, Charles Ramson Jr emphasised the importance of teamwork to win matches and thus the games.
The President’s College team
“Over the next few weeks, you’re gonna be able to play against each other, but at the same time, you have to learn how to play with each other. Team sports – cricket or whatever team sports you’re playing – is really about how you learn to work with each other and at the same time, learn to win and the teams that are most united and cohesive altogether are the ones that are best able to win and, so at our ministry, we focus a lot on building a strong team, and it(teamwork) also teaches you how to lead, because girls can be very good leaders as well,” he said.
Director of Sport, Steve Ninvalle went on to expound on the development we are likely to see in the next year due to the dedication of the National Sports Commission and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport.
“We can see that every year that this competition is being held, we are seeing development, so when we look back in 2024 at what has happened in 2023. I’m giving you my word that we will see much more improvements with the help of the National Sports Commission and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport. You have committed and dedicated people, which are two important things, if you are to see development,” he said.
The two finalists of the tournament will get a trip to Fort Zealandia in addition to trophies and prizes, compliments of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport.
