NAGICO-LICA Cricket One Day Tournament
Mc Sood Amjad Calls for Better Management of Local Cricket Boards Willing to Help if Called Upon.
By Rawle Nelson
File Photo Courtesy of Milton Pieters. C.E.O. of NAGICO, Mr. Imran Ms Sood Amjad.
Chief Executive Officer of National Insurance Company (NAGICO), Imran Mc Sood Amjad has issued a stern call for cricketing boards in the region to better manage their affairs thus attracting corporate companies on board.
Amjad who was frank in his views said that too many boards are waiting on sponsors to come to their aid, rather than properly advertising and marketing the sport so as to garner support from the public and business communities.
"Gone are the days when people supported because they had nothing else to do, today it's a different story and local boards must get their acts together if they are going to generate the financial and other support that they need," he said.
The NAGICO CEO hopes that other boards emulate what the St Maarten cricket board has been able to achieve in its fifteen years of existence. "Myself and a few others started cricket some fifteen years ago on this island. At that time not many persons knew what cricket was and we were the ones to get the two grounds constructed after Hurricane Lewis had done major damage in 1995.
"The point that I am trying to drive home is that in St Maarten we recognize that governments were not going to do everything and we also understood that a lot of hard work would have had to be invited if we were going to succeed in popularizing and marketing there sport effectively," he said.
"Years ago they were hardly any clubs on this island but today we can boast that there are sixteen senior teams along with seven female teams that plays wind ball mostly while they are also a number of youth teams. Cricket can be marketed and advertised thus resulting in success however it has to be done professionally," he argued.
"I am hoping that with more and more small islands improving in the sport that the politicians will come on board as they need to play a meaningful also in the growth ands development of cricket" said Amjad, who hails from Guyana and as been heading the company since its establishment in 1982."
"I hope the ministers of Sports in the various islands would recognize that the time has come for them to chop in and not wait on the business community for everything. When the teams do well its not only the business community that supported benefits everyone does and in many cases governments do not support but are the first to acknowledge praise when a national team does well," Amjad said.
"What I would also like to see is that the local boards succeed in taking the sport to the schools as they are the ones that we will watch in years to come playing for West Indies or even playing professional leagues in other parts of the world. Getting the cricket into schools is very important as it will help in getting more youngsters from the smaller islands playing the game," a hopefully Amjad anticipates.
Amjad who admitted that many times he has thrown his company's support behind the sport not because of the proposals that were drafted but because of his passion and love for the game said that he recognizes that cricket is not a popular sport in many of the islands noting that young people are no longer interested in standing in the sun for several hours but rather to enjoy other sport without having to labour that much.
He however noted that with his company turning in over 16 million at the end of 2007 and with plans afoot for expansion into a number of southern islands he foresee that his company's investment into the sport will grow. "We will look at ways at developing the sport as like NAGICO when we started some twenty five odd years ago we started with 100,000 US but today we have over 16 million dollars so growth and development is possible with hard work, commitment and determination," he declared.
"I am a firm believer that once the youngster are given an opportunity that they will develop because we have seen that if and when they get this opportunity of developing and enhancing their cricketing skills things will pick up in the Leeward Islands and hopefully throughout the region."
"If we can also see more local boards managing their affairs more professionally couple with governments throwing in their support and assistance in a meaningful way I think that will help little bit more, because of a lot more youngsters will be introduced to the sport" he said.
This is my dream and it has been for a very long time, especially since I have seen how cricket has opened doors of opportunities for many. I trust that local boards will understand the responsibilities that they are tasked with and to ensure that all attempts are made at not only improving the sport on the field but also to better improve the management of the sport off the field thus resulting in business communities wanting to assist.
Amjad said that with a number of new blood being introduced into the administration of a several local boards he hopes that they will change things for the better. He said that he is also willing to help, if called upon.