THE Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) in partnership with Digicel launched a new Youth Development Programme in Jamaica known as the ‘WICB/Digicel Grassroots Programme’.

Announced at a press conference at Collie Smith Drive in Boys’ Town, the grassroots programme will target young boys and girls ages 12 to 17 years in a structured approach to assist in the overall development of cricketers across Jamaica.

According to Fritz Harris, honorary secretary for the JCA, “This historic grassroots cricket initiative is the next step in the development programme of the WICB. This programme will target youngsters who have moved on from the Kiddy Cricket programme, as well as young boys and girls with no prior cricketing experience.”

The programme will focus on developing fundamentals amongst the young players while educating them on the overall history of West Indies cricket. “There is also an important emphasis on the development of personal life skills and attitudes, as well as the correction of technical faults and weaknesses,” Harris added.

Conor Looney, Marketing Director for Digicel Jamaica, commented that “the WICB/Digicel Grassroots Programme is a natural extension of Digicel’s love and support for cricket in Jamaica and the Caribbean.

“Our investment of teaching the basic fundamentals of the game to these girls and boys now will certainly help to preserve the future of cricket in Jamaica and across the region for years to come. It’s going to be an exciting programme and we’re looking forward to the talents that this programme will no doubt unearth.”

The programme will be delivered in all parishes across Jamaica, including Portmore, in 15 clusters. Training will, therefore, take place in each cluster for a period of three hours each Saturday or during the week. This will be implemented for the remainder of 2012 with Under-15 training taking place from May to June and Under-17 from July through to September. In the meantime, the training programme for each period will culminate with inter-cluster games between adjoining clusters.