LESEtangs Combined School of District 8 Soufriere retained the championship of the ScotiabankKiddy Cricket Festival last Thursday, defeating Grande Riviere Combined School in the finals.
The Festival took place on Thursday, at the Mindoo Phillip Park with all eight district champions competing.
In the first round, Les Etangs defeated Marchand Combined by 37 runs. Other results were Grande Riviere Combined defeated Vigier Primary by 53 runs, Camille Henry defeated RichfondCombined by 30 runs and Lady Gordon Opportunity defeated Banse la Grace by 10 runs.
In the semifinals Les Etangs overcame Camille Henry by 42 runs while Grande Riviere knocked off Lady Gordon by a massive 160 runs.
Then in the finals Les Etangs won the toss and batted first scoring 143 in their allotted 10 overs. In their reply, Grande Riviere could only muster 108.
For third place Lady Gordon Opportunity Centre defeated Camille Henry Memorial by 160 runs to 146.
During the presentation ceremony which followed the Festival, Scotiabank’sKiddy Cricket Champion Carol J Henry (Mr) lauded the young cricketers, telling them they were all champions in their own way.
He said: “Whether it’s the display during international matches, the Kiddy Cricket camps or this festival, you children show genuine love for cricket. When we watch the Kiddy cricketers, you all are having so much fun that it reminds us adults of why we started playing or watching cricket ourselves.”
Henry urged the young cricketers to keep that love for the game, that sense of joy and fun that they were getting from it and remember that Scotiabank was with them all the way.
Since 2000, Scotiabank has been the exclusive sponsor of Kiddy Cricket and the official bank of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB). This makes the bank the longest standing current sponsor of West Indies Cricket at any level.
Announcing the names of several current West Indies players, both men and women cricketers who had come out of the Kiddy Cricket programme, Henry declared: “ The next West Indian star could be one of you here today. Keep training, learning and taking in what your coaches are showing you because this is the first step on the path to bigger things.”