Samoan Team Visit Local Schools on Rest Day

Six members of the Samoan Men's team and two members of the national women's team took time out from their busy schedule at the Pepsi ICC East Asia-Pacific Division 2 Trophy to visit some local schools and run cricket sessions for children of all ages.

The national representatives joined Samoan Cricket development staff to assist them with their ongoing junior development program that is being rolled out throughout schools around Samoa.

The lucky schools that were chosen today to have a visit from the unbeaten national team were Falaeta College and Leauva'a Primary School both of which had more than 60 children participate on the day.

Tournament leading run scorer Ben Mailata was one of the players who made the trip and said all of his teammates were thrilled to have the opportunity to do some work with the future of Samoan Cricket.

"It was a fantastic day and all of the kids really got into it," said Mailata. "We all really wanted to take the opportunity on the rest day of the tournament to put a bit back into Samoan Cricket who have been so good to us over the years."

Participants were broken into groups of about 10 and rotated around a number of different drills that gave everyone the chance to try their hand at batting, throwing and catching throughout the session.

"We had a good variety of drills and not only did we see a lot of young talent, but more importantly it was great to see all of the kids really enjoying themselves," said Mailata.

Samoa will play their final game of the round robin matches tomorrow, before they will meet either the Philippines or Tonga in the final on Friday.