THE Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) has joined hands with Guyana’s leading youth and sports organisation, Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club (RHTY&SC) to host an Under-17 tournament for 17 secondary schools in Region Six.

The tournament will be sponsored exclusively by Guyana Bank for Trade & Industry (GBTI) Port Mourant branch.

Assistant Secretary/CEO of the club, Simon Naidu, stated that the tournament will be played on a knockout basis with 25 overs aside.

Naidu expressed gratitude to the GBTI for sponsoring the tournament.

The tournament will be contested by Skeldon High, Tagore Memorial, Line Path Secondary, Central Corentyne, Black Bush Secondary, Winifred Gaskin Secondary, Manchester High, Corentyne Comprehensive, Port Mourant Secondary, J.C. Chandisingh Secondary, Lower Corentyne Secondary, Canje Secondary, Berbice High, Vryman’s Erven Secondary, Berbice Educational Institute, New Amsterdam Secondary and Tutorial Academy.

Players must be born on or after the 1st September, 2000 and have an attendance rate of 80 percent. Schools who play players above the age limit or who are not attending school will be expelled from the tournament and debarred from all school tournaments in 2019.

GBTI branch manager Ghoeblall Mahadeo stated that the bank was pleased to sponsor the tournament. GBTI, he stated, as a matter of policy, invests heavily in sports and education. He urged the teams to play the game in a spirit of unity, goodwill and discipline.

BCB and RHTY&SC will use the tournament to promote the Say Yes to Life and Say No to Drugs Message to the 17 schools.

Further, Naidu hailed the outstanding work of the BCB in promoting the game of cricket across the county. The 18-year-old Naidu also indicated that the club will continue to work closely with the BCB in order to further raise the standard of the game in Berbice.

Last year, RHTY&SC used over $2M of its own funds to assist its Secretary/CEO, Hilbert Foster, to fulfil his duties as president of the BCB.

Meanwhile, Foster stated that 35 tournaments are scheduled for 2019.