By: Mohamed Abu Conteh
The Sierra Leone Cricket Association (SLCA) will roll out its remaining activities of the 2022 Budget Operational Plan amid a series of competitions starting from Saturday, October 29th 2022, with the Women’s U19 Cricket Youth league.
According to the SLCA’s Chairman Francis Trevor Samura, the association has resumed its domestic cricket leagues in line with the 2022 Budget Operational Plan, with the Men’s Elite T20 Cricket league coming to an end this weekend, the Sierra Leone Women’s U-19 T20 Cricket Youth League 2022 involving 15 teams with 225 players expected to commence this weekend, to followed by the Sierra Leone Women’s T20 Cricket Premier League 2022 which also involves 15 teams with 225 players In total 500 Women will involve in these two leagues. Next up will be the Sierra Leone Women’s Elite Cricket Franchise League 2022 which features 5 Women’s teams involving 75 players.
He furthered that after the three Women’s Leagues, the association will organize the Western Area Schools Cricket Championship which includes Primary, Junior Secondary and Senior Secondary Schools that will involve 240 Schools with 120 girls’ teams and 120 boys’ teams. “The SLCA’s Development Officers will be engaging Schools across the Country before the end of the first term,” he said.
Samura also stated revealed that during the holiday period, they will organize the Barracks U-10, U-13, and U-17 leagues involving 40 communities with 240 teams and featuring 3,600 players.
“The Development Officers will reach out to different communities especially deprived communities where cricket had not been played. They will use cricket not only to get kids involved in the sport but also use cricket as a social tool to educate, enlighten, and inspire kids, engage them to become healthy, happier and also be part of the cricket society that will see them represent Sierra Leone in the future and also make them useful and productive citizens. The Chairman continued. “The ongoing Cricket development programmes in Schools and Communities to meet the 114, 845 total participation target for 2022. A target that currently stands at 49,000 achieved between January to September 2022 with the remaining of 65,845, that is been currently worked on countrywide,” he noted.
Trevor Samura concluded by confirming that SLCA is in preparation to participate in the ICC Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup Africa Sub Regional qualifier slated for Kigali, Rwanda from 28th November to 9th December 2022.