TORONTO, Canada – President of the Ontario Masters Softball Cricket Clubs (OMSCC) Azeem Karamat Khan is upbeat about the level of cricket in the Masters league, pointing to the introduction of the Memorial Cup as a further testimony to the league’s continued improvement.

Khan made the disclosure at last Saturday night’s 19th annual presentation, dinner and dance held at the Qssis Banquet Halls, Scarborough here.

According to Khan, the memorial game was introduced to honour “all our loved ones who are watching us from above with Royston 11 emerging as the inaugural winners. We also had our second Over-60 friendly games, sponsored by Naseer Baksh and won by the Littles Sports Club team who are celebrating their 25th anniversary this year.”

The long-standing president also paid tribute to all the participating teams, their families and friends and gave due recognition to all trophy winners and championship teams such as Friendship Masters, Hawaiian Sensation and the Toronto Blizzards who won back-to-back championships in the Over-50 category in the New York Softball Cricket League (NYSCL)  tournament and at home in Toronto Cup 3.

Touching on the staging of the third edition of Toronto Cup 3 during the Labour Day weekend, Khan disclosed that for the first time, the three categories, Open, Over-40 and Over-50, were captured by Canadian teams – Softball Cricket Canada (SCC) in the Open, Our Own in the Over-40 with Toronto Blizzards winning the Over-50 division.

Khan also recognised the presence of Deputy Mayor of Toronto, Michael Thompson, and Ward 25 City Councillor Jennifer McKelvie for their attendance at Toronto Cup 3. He also thanked the new sponsors for their contributions. He boasted that the tournament paid for itself.

The OMSCC president also acknowledged the contributions of his hard-working board members – Feizal Bacchus, Dickey Singh, Khem Singh, Indira Singh, Jas Mathura and Paul Jaman – and the invaluable support from the several sponsors and looked forward to their continued assistance in 2020.

In recognition of their outstanding contributions to the OMSCC, Khan rewarded all his executive members with appreciation plaques while Bacchus was singled out for special mention, receiving a trophy in the process.

Khan reserved special thanks for Frederick Halley of the Guyana Chronicle who was described as a “dynamic sportswriter”; supporters Patsy and Banda Jirjhodan; and his wife Indra, “for supporting me as a board member for the past 17 of 19 years since this league was formed”.

The Norman Sue Spirit Awards, given annually to worthy individuals who played big roles both on and off the field, were awarded to OMSCC secretary Jas Mathura and registrar/statistician Indira Singh by the late businessman’s daughter Kim Sue. According to Sue, she wanted to recognise two stalwart women this time around, a change from the past when mostly men were given the prestigious awards. (Frederick Halley)