…Dr Jagdeo extolls organisers, title sponsors

By Frederick Halley
THE second edition of the Vice-president T20 Softball Cup was launched with pomp and ceremony at the Muslim Youth Organisation (MYO) on Monday evening with patron of the tournament present.
Guyana’s Vice-president, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo extolled praise on the organisers, the Georgetown Softball Cricket League (GSCL), title sponsors Regal Stationery & Computer Centre and others for their sterling efforts in the staging of the three-day extravaganza set for November 8-10.

According to the vice-president, “the recognition of what people have done is crucial because sometimes those who have worked over the years to preserve this very unique way of unifying and keeping our people together have not gotten that recognition, so today I just wanted to come here to associate myself with this effort and the other efforts that are being done at the national level and to thank all of those who are working to make this happen.”

Dr Jagdeo reminded the appreciative audience of the enormous resources that the Guyana government has been putting into transforming the physical landscape of the country, to make it more amenable to the development of sports, leisure and entertainment.
The vice-president pointed out that “right across Guyana we have identified initiative projects, completing projects to give effect to that bigger version. In Berbice, I think we have over 125 community grounds. We spent over four hundred million dollars in that region last year and this year maybe another four hundred million on developing all the grounds.”

Dr Jageo alluded to the fact that there’s a new stadium for track and field and football in New Amsterdam. “In Palmyra, there’s a new stadium that will cater for international cricket and international football; at Albion we are now putting in ICC standard lights so international cricket could be played there.
“In Georgetown, we have 34 grounds from Agricola to Cummingslodge, Everyone of these grounds has seen some form of growth in expansion and soon they will also get lights…”
The vice-president also disclosed that a new stadium, which has been donated by the Quatar government, following the staging of the last FIFA World Cup, has been airmarked for the populous Region Three, giving Guyana another international facility.
Dr Jagdeo said government is also looking at the school level and intends to introduce sports in the curriculum in a major way, “so it’s a comprehensive approach to the development of sports and recreation in the country and it just compliment what we are doing in other areas too, a natural approach to solving tasks and improve the delivery of goods and services in each sector for our people.”

GSCL President, Ian John, in his remarks, pointed out that a significant plus in this year’s tournament is the addition of a women’s category, done on the insistence of the vice-president. He also showered praise on the title sponsors, who he pointed out have gone a step further this year with providing motor cycles for the Most Valuable Players (MVPs) in all four categories and Ramesh Sunich of Trophy Stall who has consented once again to donate all the trophies for the tournament. Matches will also be contested with the Trophy Stall branded balls.
Speaking on behalf of the title sponsors, international commentator John Ramsingh, also of FL Sports fame, spoke about the generosity of Regal Stationery & Computer Centre and its owner Mahendra “Anil” Hardyal, who he said has been has been providing charitable donations to entities and individuals in need throughout the length and breadth of Guyana and has been quietly doing so for years without the requisite recognition.

The tournament will be contested in the usual three men’s categories – Open All Stars, Masters Over-40 and Legends Over-50 over 20 overs while the women will compete in 15-over affairs at several venues in and around Georgetown. All the finals will be played at the Police Sports Club ground, Eve Leary on Sunday, November 10.

Winners in all three men’s categories are guaranteed a first prize of $500,000 while the runners-up will take home $200,000. The winners of the women’s division will cart off $300,000 and the runners-up $100,000.
All the winners and runners-up teams and players of the finals will also receive trophies.

Popular cricket commentator Inderjeet Persaud chaired the evening’s proceedings, highlighting the contributions of Dr Jagdeo to the country’s overall development. The several media personnel were also lauded for their efforts in covering tournaments of these nature over the years.
Both the GSCL and the tape ball fraternity also took the opportunity to present tokens of appreciation to the vice-president.