The Gambia U-15 cricket side is warming up for an ICC/ACA cricket tournament for North/West Africa billed for December in Nigeria, according to the president of the Gambia Cricket Association, Johnny Gomez.
The team, which has been preparing for the event since September, is looking forward to a respectable performance in Nigeria.
Johnny seized the opportunity to inform Pointsport that one of the immediate plans of the association is to introduce the game in Mansakonko starting with schoolchildren and targeting 300 students from primary and upper basic schools.
"We are working with the National Sports Council and the education department’s regional education officer to kick start the programme in schools as soon as possible," the cricket maestro said. "The second aspect of the programme is to train 20 teachers. This will be done in two days."
Central River Region and the Upper River Region of the country, which have not yet benefited from the programme, will also be covered to meet the association’s target of introducing 1200 students into cricket. "This will help bolster the association's efforts in decentralizing the game," he said.
On local cricket, Johnny said the Gambia Cricket Association (GCA) will this week commence a T-20 competition sponsored by the Gambia Ports Authority.
The GCA boss recently returned from the ICC/ ACA training programme on governance at the Wips Business School in Johannesburg alongside administrative secretary Wilfred Riley. The five-day programme they attended also looked at leadership and strategies as well as new funding strategies.