For the first time, one player from each of the 11 participating teams will receive a $2 000 scholarship during this year’s Block T20 Competition, which also offers a first prize of $10 000.
The organisers revealed the initiative on Wednesday as the Ministry of Sport and Community Empowerment launched this year’s event at its Sky Mall headquarters.
To be eligible for the scholarship, players must meet a number of criteria, including a minimum of 75 per cent attendance, being among their team’s best performers and demonstrating a positive attitude.
St Philip are the defending champions while St Joseph will face St Peter in the opening match on November 13 at Boscobelle.
According to coordinator Courtney Browne, this year’s event, which carries a price tag of approximately $500 000 had been in the works for several years before getting off the ground in 2025.
“It was something that was born a number of years ago but we had COVID so it got postponed, postponed, postponed until last year. The vision really is very simple. It’s about using cricket as a vehicle to develop young people, and we have a lot of young men across Barbados that need help.”
The former Barbados and West Indies wicketkeeper-batsman continued: “We know the struggles and we know the opportunities… I’m a recipient of that [opportunity] and we just want to do the same for a lot of young men in Barbados.
“We’re not saying that we’re going to produce West Indies cricketers and Barbados cricketers, but we want to produce productive young men within our society that can help lead and that can help encourage their peers.”
According to Sports Minister Charles Griffith, the tournament hinges on three pillars: youth engagement, community development and crime prevention.
“We believe that sports is a vehicle that can lead our young people not only to be satisfied as far as self is concerned, but to empower communities.
“This particular tournament is looking to engage those youngsters who would not normally be involved in cricket at the community level, to provide a structured, and I mean really structured, avenue for them.”
The tournament caters to players between the ages of 16 and 25.
Minister Griffith said it was important that when players walked onto the field, they could look back and recognise that a community stood behind them.
“One of the legacy components that we’re pushing for is to have a minimum of two teams enter the BCL (Barbados Cricket League) at the conclusion of this tournament. I believe it is critical in terms of us not just playing a tournament for playing a tournament’s sake, but at the end of the day, Courtney and a couple others may be able to identify the coaches, may be able to identify those youngsters that they believe can form the nucleus of those two teams that we’re expecting to go into the BCL and to reach higher heights,” Griffith said.
Browne shed further light on how the $2 000 grant will be allocated, saying it will be tailored to meet the individual needs of each recipient.
“From speaking to the coaches, speaking to the people who will select them, then we will see what the player wants to do. He may want to further develop his cricket, he may want to go to one of the educational institutions.
(KH)
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