EAP Development Award Winners Announced
The International Cricket Council (ICC) East Asia-Pacific (EAP) Region has today announced the winners of the 2011 Pepsi ICC EAP Development Programme Annual Awards.
Cricket PNG has won the award for "Best Overall Cricket Development Programme" due to the continued growth of their BSP School Kriket Programme. The programme reached 116,381 participants from 300 schools in 2011 which was more than double the figure from 2010. This strong growth is a result of the hard work, commitment and stability of the Cricket PNG administration.
Cricket PNG also took out the category of "Best Junior Participation Initiative" for their Liklik Cricket Programme. On the back of the success of the BSP Junior participation programme PNG has begun making the vital link of turning their mass participation into organized junior competitions via Liklik Cricket. Children are now competing against each other on a weekly basis at Under 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 age groups in 7 of the 10 provinces across the country.
The Cook Islands have won the award for the "Best Cricket Promotion and Marketing Programme" for attracting the NZ Northern Knights to Rarotonga for a pre-season camp and Twenty20 match against the Cook Islands National Team. The event sparked enormous media interest both locally and internationally via television, radio and social media.
"Photo of the Year" has gone to Cricket PNG for a promotional shot taken by Australian Photographer Mark Dadswell of a young boy participating in the BSP School Kriket Programme in Central Province.
Cricket Fiji has taken out "Best Women's Cricket Initiative" for the rapid increase they have seen in women playing the game in Fiji over the last 12 months. This has been a result of an increase in primary school based competitions, the establishment of the Suva Women's Cricket League and the national women's team touring Vanuatu.
The "Best Spirit of Cricket Initiative" has been won by the Japan Cricket Association for their Cricket for Smiles Programme. Cricket for Smiles was set up to provide smiles, hope and courage through cricket to children affected by the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan. The programme makes regular visits to affected areas providing fun activities, awareness of the hardship people are facing and the donation of equipment.
Taoi Nooroa from the Cook Islands has won the award for "Volunteer of the Year." Taoi is a volunteer for the Manaia Cricket Association in the Cook Islands who this year re-established a men's cricket competition in Manaia after an absence of cricket in the region for 70 years. After the success of the men's competition he then established a women's league and was instrumental in Cook Islands Cricket successful bid to get Cricket included in the Southern Games (Manua Games) as a medal sport for both men and women.
The late Luisa Rika from Fiji has been given the "Lifetime Service Award" after dedicating so much of the last 31 years to developing the game of Cricket in Fiji. As a young mother Luisa made the 6 hour round trip from Suva to Nadi on countless occasions to provide her children the opportunity to play cricket. The result? 4 out of 5 would go on to represent Fiji, including current captain Jo Rika. Luisa was also the driving force behind the creation of women?s cricket in Fiji and was instrumental in assisting to set up the Rotuman Women's Cricket Team and Suva Women's Cricket League. She has also given up her house and time to accommodation and feed several Suva Under 19 sides during the annual national tournaments.
The EAP award winners will now join winners from the four other Pepsi International Cricket Council (ICC) Development Programme Regions at the ICC Global Awards.
The ICC Development Program Awards were established to recognize exceptional performance and service to the game of cricket in all Associate and Affiliate member countries, and aims to recognize these contributions among all levels of cricket development.
The ICC EAP office would like to congratulate all winners and those who submitted nominations for the 2011 awards. We wish you the best of luck for the Global Awards and for another great year in 2012.
