Executive Official of the Kenemmanjane cricket Club (KCC) on Wednesday October 17 2012 donated cricket equipment from a United Kingdom-based coaching agency, Coaching Cricket Excellence (CCK) worth million Leones.
Receiving the equipment at the Mount Aureol Freight Service Company, at Fort Street, the founder and newly-appointed Chairman of KCC, Emmanuel Pessima expressed delight at receiving the equipment.
He said the donation is another milestone in the club’s history, as it was the first ever equipment donation received from an international cricket organization.
Pessima further thanked the former boss of the Sierra Leone Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) who also doubles as the club’s Chief Patron, Abdul Tejan Cole for his support in paying the freight fee which enabled the club to receive the equipment.
“This donation will be the beginning of something wonderful. We would like to thank the Coaching Cricket Excellence and their donors for their wonderful contribution. It will really help us and we are very grateful to them and Tejan Cole,” Pessima said.
Also the club’s newly-appointed Secretary- General, Sahr Morris Jr. also thanked CCK for their gesture adding that this donation will help the club achieve success in future competitions.
He said, “these equipment will now help us to starts our grassroots training and also bring in more young players to the club and start early preparation ahead of the forthcoming local tournaments.”
The donated equipments are: seven pair batting pads, five bats, 11 pair batting gloves, 14 leather balls, 67 soft- balls, five pair thigh pads, two pair-box pads, 15 top playing jersey, six trousers, a pair wicket-keeping pad, helmet and ketch respectively.
The Director of Coaching Cricket Excellence, Peter Willings told Awoko Sports that helping Sierra Leone is part of a wider aim. “We have to supply cricket kits and other sporting equipment to parts of the world that are not as advantaged as Britain and Sierra Leone is one of those countries. We have more than enough cricket equipment here,(Britain) both new and old, and we believe it’s only right that people elsewhere make use of it, rather than it being available to those who have plenty already.”
He also stated that Coaching Cricket Excellence is a Coaching Agency based in Ealing, West London, England. They exist to help people of all ages play the sport from the age of four upwards.
They are presently running holiday cricket courses, Sunday cricket club, individual coaching, children’s cricket parties and two superb academies.
Coaching Cricket Excellence team is also passionately committed to helping develop the sport in areas of the world that experience real hardship. They are currently having projects running in Uganda, India, Rwanda, South Africa and the Caribbean.
The director Peter Willings has revealed that Sierra Leone has experienced more than its fair share of hardship. The civil war which stretched from 1991 to 2002 decimated the country. 50,000 people were killed, hundreds of thousands were wounded, many permanently, and towns, villages and cities were left without basic amenities.
Of course cricket was not spared.
Few people may be aware that cricket has been played in Sierra Leone at sub-regional domestic level since the 1930’s and was enjoyed by a modest but dedicated and passionate group of followers and participants.
Unsurprisingly, the civil war obliterated nearly all the cricketing infrastructure. Grounds and equipment were destroyed almost without exception. By rights, the game could have and perhaps, should have died. Instead, it has made a genuine “From the Ashes” comeback.
The Kenemmanjane Cricket Club is an affiliate member of the Sierra Leone Cricket Association. The club has both men and women’s teams that are presently in domestic leagues and competitions and the women’s team was Bronze medal winner at the Sierra Leone National Women’s T20 Cricket League 2012.
Peter Willings said “Kenemmanjane Cricket Club is doing a wonderful job helping generate interest in cricket. Keep getting the children involved from as young an age as possible and with luck you’ll get a touring team from the UK come visit you soon.”
Peter further promised that he will continue to help the Kenemmanjane Cricket Club with equipment and other areas, as long as he is able to. “I’ve assisted with sending cricket kits to Uganda, India, Rwanda, Afghanistan, the West Indies and South Africa thus far. I would like to say a big thank you to my friend, Bernie Spratt and our donors for their support. Without that, it wouldn’t have happened.”
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