ECC hosts successful event

MINISTRY of Culture, Youth and Sport/National Sports Commission held yet another Day of Interaction (DOI) at the Enterprise Community Centre ground last Sunday and had an attendance of approximately 550 persons from communities along the East Coast of Demerara.As early as 08:00hrs participants began to assemble at the venue and were addressed by Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr Frank Anthony who later declared the activities open, but not before he emphasised the importance of exercise and sport for healthy lifestyle.
Dr Anthony also told the athletes that Days of Interaction are held throughout the country while Director of Sport Neil Kumar thanked the communities for participating and encouraged the athletes to continue playing sports which will help with their physical fitness and their academic education.
Also present were Dr Pradeep Balram, member of the National Sports Commission, Dr Kissoon, Chief Medical Officer, Guysuco and Mr Balkissoon, former Caribbean Table Tennis junior champion, with all three lending their expertise and time to officiate in the table tennis competition.
The various sports disciplines were played at a highly competitive level, with national player Kavita Yadram being among the list of participants in the female softball competition.
Three school teams competed in softball cricket at the junior level while Bladen Hall Secondary School played football at the senior level. And at the end of the day, participants and spectators were high in praise for the organising of the DOI and encouraged the Ministry/NSC to organise the activity on a regular basis.
The competitions contested included Football, Volleyball, Table Tennis, Domino and Softball Cricket and the final results are as follows:
Table Tennis: 28 persons including three females participated in the competition which saw Ester Holloway of Buxton defeat her villager Audia Morgan in the female category by 2 sets to 1 and Vikash Hori of Ogle getting the better of John McAllister of Enmore by 3 sets to 1.
Domino: Six teams were involved and after the preliminary games, Enterprise Centre Boys (40 games) were victorious over Enterprise Shop (23 games) and Enmore (20 games).
Football: Four teams were involved and in the first semi-final, Bladen Hall Secondary destroyed Buxton, 6-0 while Enterprise took care of Bare Root 3-2 on penalty kicks after a 1-1 scoreline, with Bladen Hall taking the final after defeating Enterprise 3-2 on penalties after a 0-0 scoreline.
Volleyball: Only two teams contested this discipline, with Enterprise Legend coming out victorious against Centre Boys.
Softball Cricket females: In this two-team affair, the crowd was treated to some fantastic display with elevated hitting, outstanding fielding and memorable catches.
However, Enterprise Stars overpowered Enterprise Youth by 40 runs after scoring 124 runs and limiting their opponents to 84 runs.
Juniors: Eleven teams, including three schools played in this category. The preliminary matches were all exciting as there were no clear winners in any of the games but in a gripping final, Bladen Hall Secondary School edged Coldingen by one run, reducing their opponents to 73 in reply to their 74.
Seniors: Five teams entered and played cricket of a high standard, with players and spectators being kept on their feet throughout the contests. However, there could only be one winner and in the final which went down to the last delivery in a do-or-die situation, Jailall Warriors with 58 runs scraped home against Enterprise Legend who scored 56 runs.
At the end of a successful day, teams placing first and second were rewarded with trophies while sports gear and equipment were also presented to all participating teams who were encouraged to use the gear and equipment to develop themselves in their respective sport.