TORONTO, Canada – Months of planning came to fruition last Sunday when the Scarborough Cricket Association (SCA) launched its historic women’s league amidst much pomp and splendour at the Ashtonbee ground here with several prominent officials hailing the ground-breaking and auspicious event.It was also the culmination of a promise made at the SCA’s annual presentation dinner and dance held last October when the Guyanese-dominated entity disclosed its intention to introduce

women’s cricket for the first time in its 34-year-old existence.
Among those in attendance were Federal Member of Parliament Rathika Sitsabaiesan and Nancy Lowes, manager of the Parks and Golf Courses, Scarborough District.
The launch was also witnessed by officials of the SCA, including president Deo Samaroo, vice-president Bisham Singh, secretary Eon Gunraj, treasurer Vish Jadunauth and grounds coordinator Mathew Francis. Ontario Cricket Association official Melvin John, Hawaiian Arctic Cricket Club (HACC) president Narchand ‘Archie’ Mohan and sponsor of the winning trophy Krishna Sarju were also in attendance.
Delivering brief greetings at the ceremony, Ms Sitsabaiesan disclosed that she was really happy to see the introduction of women’s cricket in Scarborough and told the women cricketers present that they were lucky to have people who were willing to make it happen.
The Sri Lankan-born Sitsabaiesan, who represents Scarborough-Rouge River in the Federal Parliament, also reminded those present that cricket was part of their culture.
SCA president Samaroo pointed out that his executives had worked tirelessly to ensure the commencement of the tournament and assured that at least three more teams will come on board next season, joining the three that started the competition last Sunday.
Lowes, who admitted that she’s not too familiar with the game of cricket, however pledged her full cooperation for the upkeep of the venues and wished the SCA well in this new venture while OCA’s John also lauded the association for the bold initiative. He also took the opportunity to present bats, helmets and scoreboards to both women’s teams on behalf of Hilrich Sports.
HACC president Mohan reminded the players that while winning should obviously be their primary focus, they should endeavour to have much fun as possible on and off the field of play.
Speaking on behalf of the Ontario Softball Cricket League (OSCL), treasurer Kim Sue urged the women to aim to surpass their male counterparts.
Coordinator of the women’s section of the SCA, George Maharaj, who is also the manager of Kaisoca women’s A and B teams, said he saw a bright future for the women’s game, especially with more teams set to come on board in 2016.
It was also disclosed that Krishna Sarju of Caribbean Waves Restaurant readily agreed to sponsor the winning trophy and he was present to hand it over to the SCA president. Sarju also disclosed that he had no hesitation to do same when he was approached.
Since there are only three women’s teams this season, the SCA added the boys’ Under-13 team in order to make it four and in Sunday’s opening matches, Kaisoca A took on Superstars while Kaisoca B played the boys’ Under-13 side.
The proceedings were spiced up by a two-man steel band, bringing a distinct Caribbean flavour to the occasion.
The SCA still boasts of being the first body to have staged T20 cricket in any part of the world, starting in 1984 and also held an annual six-a-side knockout competition, which was played mostly in the evenings.
The T20 tournament further progressed into the well known ‘Festival Weekend’ which was held over the July, Canada Day weekend for a period of three days. These activities were held at the Ashtonbee Park with 38 teams competing, much to the enjoyment of several families who were in full attendance.
The SCA participated in two World Masters tournaments, the first in 1985 in Toronto and the other in Denmark in 1989, capturing a bronze medal in the former and was also hosted by the St Lucian Government in 1993.

By Frederick Halley