The Bermuda Cricket Board (BCB) is extremely proud to announce that for a FOURTH consecutive year and for the last five out of six years, the BCB has been awarded "ICC 2010 Best Development Programme." This award is particularly important because it is given to the national sports body who has proven excellence in all areas of:
- Governance
- Management
- Cricket operations
- Development
The winner of this award has to be an outstanding national cricket body with an excellent national cricket structure that caters for senior and junior players.
In addition, the BCB won the "ICC 2010 Photo of the Year", for a second year in a row for "Stay Focused" taken by Samantha Dill, a picture of Aunde Todd age 5 competing in the BCB Under 8 Youth Programme. Earl Basden's photo, "It's mine" took a close second and "Run him out" taken by Samantha Dill was the 2010 runners up (see right).
Martin Vieira, Regional Development Manager commented on the judging process for ICC Photo of the Year:
"So intense was the battle for supremacy in the "Photo of the Year" category the services of a professional photographer was needed before the panel could decide on the winner."
Mr. Vieira continued by praising Bermuda for winning the ICC Best Development Programme four consecutive years in a row, "I am overjoyed to see the deserved recognition of the BCB by the ICC Americas for its work from grassroots to the elite performance. As far as I am aware, in the past six years no other country in the world has won the Best Development Programme more than twice. The Bermuda Cricket Board has won this award five times including the last four consecutive years. I am in no doubt that sport in general, and the BCB in particular, play an immense role in improving lives in the Bermuda community. I look forward to their continued success."
President of the BCB, Mr. Reginald Pearman stated, "The Board is absolutely delighted to receive the top award for an unprecedented four years in a row! This is an amazing accomplishment that confirms our dedication to the development of cricket in our community. The BCB are now starting to see the impact of our programmes with many players who started in our youth programmes breaking through to the more senior national teams such as Joshua Gilbert, Terryn Fray, Kamau Leverock, Damali Bell and Christian Burgess."
He continued, "The photo of Aunde Todd is development in action. This young player started in our Pee Wee Programme and moved straight into the Under 8 programme at only 5 years of age. The BCB's mission is to "Improve Lives through Cricket" and to do that we offer free structured programmes which provide players with a safe place in which they are surrounded by good role models and requires they learn about discipline, focus, communication and teamwork. The BCB provides a fun and safe environment which players can spend their time enjoying a sport that they love whilst at the same time learning the skills which will assist them find the best path for a successful future."
In addition, Mr. Pearman stated, "These programmes would not happen without the support of the Bermuda Government and all our individual sponsors who generously give every year to maintain the high standard of all our programmes. On behalf of the Board I would like to thank them and the community for their support."
In a press release today, ICC Americas Office released:
PEPSI ICC Development Programme Annual Awards 2010 - Americas
Regional Winners Announced
Bermuda collect 2 awards, while Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Suriname and the
USA each take one
An outstanding 167 nominations were received in the Americas Region for the eight
award categories of the Pepsi ICC Development Programme Annual Awards 2010. Not
only were the number of nominations notable this year, the quality of the nominations
were quite impressive, and a lot of tough competition came from around the region in
every category for the selection panel to choose between.
In the end, Bermuda lead the way this year receiving two awards while Argentina, Brazil,
Canada, Chile, Suriname and the USA each captured one.
Martin Vieira, Regional Development Manager commented, "I was pleasantly surprised
to learn the region broke its record for nominations submitting 167. The quality of
nominations continues to improve. So intense was the battle for supremacy in the "Photo
of the Year" category the services of a professional photographer was needed before the
panel could decide on the winner. These awards are vital to our development
programme, volunteers are our foot soldiers on the ground as we move forward in
making Cricket a truly global sport. It is important to recognize and reward their efforts
when we can and these awards certainly highlight their tremendous efforts and sacrifices.
Congratulations to the winners and a sincere thank you to the many other volunteers in
the region, without their support our achievements in the development programme would
be severely restricted."
Although both Suriname and Brazil provided stiff competition in this category, the "Best
Overall Cricket Development Programme" award went to the Bermuda Cricket Board for
an astonishing fourth consecutive year. It is a fantastic feat for the Bermuda Cricket
Board to receive this award again and a testament to strength and continued depth of their
organization.
Cricket Argentina was this year's winner of the "Best Cricket Promotion and Marketing
Programme". It is the second year in a row that they have captured this award. This year
Cricket Argentina was selected for their joint project with the Argentine British Council
of "Sporting Nations", featuring a photographic exhibition showcasing 200 years of sporting history between Argentina and Great Britain, including cricket. This visual
project has been on display at key venues throughout the cit y of Buenos Aires and across
Argentina since July 2010 and has already been seen by an estimated 204,000 people.
The "Best Women's Cricket Initiative" was won by Chile this year. Chile has most
certainly enhanced the development of women?s cricket in their country. In 2010 they
introduced a separate women's competition, formed a women's national team and also
hosted and competed in the first ever Women?s South American Championships.
The "Best Junior Participation Initiative" was awarded to USACA for its partnership with
the United States of America Youth Cricket Association Schools Program. This program
donates cricket sets and provides instructional sessions for students and Physical
Education Instructors to schools and school districts across the country. This program
has lead to thousands of children that are now being introduced to and learning to play
cricket at school in the USA.
The "Photo of the Year" category continued its streak of the most popular category and
engrossed the most nominations again this year. This category alone received a total of
84 photos for consideration which made the final decision very difficult for the selection
panel. Eventually, Bermuda's submission of "Stay Focused", taken by Samantha Dill
was determined the 2010 Americas winner in this category. This is the second year in a
row that Bermuda has won this award. Bermuda's "It's mine" taken by Earl Basden and
"Run him out" taken by Samantha Dill were the 2010 runners up.
Suriname claimed the "Best Spirit of Cricket Initiative" award with the Lions Club
tournament. Proceeds of this weekend event featuring teams from Guyana, Trinidad and
Suriname went to support the orphanages in the country. The event was viewed by close
to 8,000 spectators and attended by Ministers of the Government. A carnival atmosphere
prevailed while the event raised funds for a very worthwhile cause.
Brazil's Matt Featherstone was the recipient of the "Volunteer of the Year Award" for his
tireless work to develop cricket amongst Brazilians. His hard work and dedication have
improved the skills of the existing players and introduced the sport to over 500 school
children. He has conducted numerous educational courses and administered the game at
both the national and regional levels. His contributions to the sport have been endless
and he has been involved in all areas of the sport in Brazil. Matt also volunteers his time
as the Regional Affiliate representative to the ICC.
Canada's Kevin Boller was selected to receive the "Lifetime Service Award" for his 38
years of involvement with cricket in Canada. Since arriving from Belfast, Ireland in
1972, Kevin has been actively involved with the Tranzac Cricket Club, the Toronto &
District Cricket Association, the Ontario Cricket Association and Cricket Canada. He
was a member of the Editorial Board of the Canadian Cricketer Magazine and a member
of the organizing committee for the ICC Trophy in 2001. Through his years and research
he was able to write, among other articles, a detailed History of Canadian Cricket, and to
date continues to keep Canadian records current.
All ICC Americas Development Programme Award winners will now be nominated for
the Global Award in their respective category. The ICC judging panel will then select a
global winner from the 5 regions in each of the categories. The Global winners will be
announced on February 28, 2011.
ICC Americas Regional Development Manager, Martin Vieira remarked, "I wish all of
our Regional winner's good luck in the Global judging and thank those countries who
actively participated in this year's contest."
ICC Americas Development Programme Award Winners 2010
Best Overall Cricket Development Programme Bermuda
Best Cricket Promotion and Marketing Programme Argentina
Best Women's Cricket Initiative Chile
Best Junior Participation Initiative USA
Photo of the Year Bermuda
Best Spirit of Cricket Initiative Suriname
Volunteer of the Year Brazil
Lifetime Service Award Canada
