The Price Club invests $300k more in youth cricket

The Price Club Supermarket has injected an additional $300,000 into the development of youth cricket in Trinidad and Tobago.

Following up on its recent joint sponsorship of $221,000, with Tiger Tanks Trinidad Ltd, for the on-going Under-19 Inter-Zone Youth Series, The Price Club made another mammoth investment of $200,000 into the upcoming Under-17 tournament, and a further $100,000 for the age-group North/South Classics.

This announcement was made by TT Cricket Board (TTCB) president Azim Bassarath at the U17 launch which was held at the Alloy Lequay Administration Centre in Couva on Wednesday.

The U17 Youth Series bowls off on Monday and will feature eight teams in two groups; East, North, North East, Tobago (Group A) and South, South East, South West and Central (Group B).

Day one matches will see North East vs Tobago at Prisons’ Grounds, Arouca; East vs North at the National Cricket Centre, Couva; South East vs Central at St Julien Recreation Ground, New Grant and South vs South West at James Park, Point Fortin. All matches begin at 9.30am.

Bassarath praised The Price Club for their continued investment and called on other corporate entities to maximise on their investment through sport.

“Without age group competition such as these, our youth would not have a stage to showcase their talent. So it is important that the corporate sector takes advantage of the tax incentive offered by Government to give generously toward sporting activity.

“It is the wish of the TTCB, that more civic-minded and patriotic people can step up and show how much they care about empowering our young people.

“Now more than ever, those who can afford to must not be reluctant to partner with the TTCB and other sporting organisations, to be a force for good.

“There are great opportunities for friends of cricket to make a contribution to the sport and get significant returns on their investment,” he said.

Bassarath pointed out that top international talents such as TT’s Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine, Dwayne and Darren Bravo, Evin Lewis and Nicholas Pooran would have all passed through these TTCB youth programmes.

He believes many youngsters who will play in the U17 inter-zone will go on to reap success in the game and became household names locally, regionally and even internationally.

After the Scotiabank U15 NextGen, The Price Club Youth Series U17 and Tiger Tanks-Price Club U19 tournaments are completed; the top performers will be placed into eight teams.

Four teams will be selected for an U16 tournament while four more, for an U19 competition. These two four-team competitions also serve as selection criteria for the North/South Classic.

The four-team tournament will be sponsored by the sport and culture fund while the Classic, financed by The Price Club.

Additionally, after the North/South Classics, three national teams (U15, U17 and U19) will be selected for the regional 50 over competition.

The regional tourney begins with the U17s from July 17-28 (TT), U15s from August 15-28 (Grenada) and U19s from August 17-28 (St Vincent).

Bassarath affirmed, “Outstanding cricketers from inter-zone youth competition will be in line for selection for the North/South fixture. I am also pleased to announce that those matches are being sponsors by the esteemed benefactor, The Price Club Supermarket.

“We are well aware of the difficulties ordinary people face in daily lives. So it brings great relief when parents are presented with a pathway for their children’s success.”

Additionally, national U17 coach Rayad Emrit welcomed a return to play for the youngsters. He also called for more support from corporate TT and is eager to get back to work with the U17 bunch.

After thanking The Price Club managing director Shamshad Ali for their significant investment, Emrit said, “Hopefully the wider business community of TT could follow in your footsteps, step forward and help the youths of the nation.”

He added, “(As U17 coach) I’m grateful and lucky to have people around me who I trust. I’m still young at this job but I’m looking forward to this exciting tournament.

“I just want you guys to go out there and do your best. The less pressure you go out there with, on your shoulders, the better.”