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U-10 Cricket Development Programme
Guardian Life of the Caribbean has once again shown its commitment to encouraging youth development by embarking on a three-year sponsorship deal with the Trinidad & Tobago Cricket Board to host an Under 10 Cricket Development Programme aimed at furthering the physical and academic growth of primary school students in our country through sports.
The programme, which spans the eight (8) districts of Trinidad and Tobago, is divided into two phases: a 'super skills' testing where students compete in batting, bowling and fielding and a teaching unit consisting of fifteen classroom sessions in Mathematics, Language Arts, Art & Craft, Social Studies, Physical Education and Science. These subjects are judged by district coordinators made up of retired principals and schools' supervisors.
This sponsorship does not just include children who can or want to play the sport but all students in that age group via the educational element. The cricket team must also comprise a minimum of two girls.
Youth Football
In 2007, Guardian Life joined forces with the Eastern Football Association to host an Under 16 football tournament. Guardian Life's President Ravi Tewari explained, "It is our intention to continue to use sport, in this case football, as a stepping stone to rebuild the level of well-roundedness, discipline, values and self-esteem so lacking in the lives of our young people."
The company also intends to introduce an off the field element to the league. Motivational sessions will be arranged for parents of the players and our agents from the East branches will be asked to serve as mentors for the players.
The tournament is divided into two phases: a league and knock-out competitions and these take place during the July to August school vacation period and will also serve as a way of keeping the youths out of trouble and engaging them in some form of sport.
Guardian Life's Youth Star Programme, launched in 2001, is an all encompassing effort by the company to virtually 'adopt' junior athletes, by providing support for their professional and personal development. This support includes training in media interviews, etiquette, self-esteem issues, financial planning and investing. The programme has reared nominees for the 2001 WITCO Sportsman and Sportswoman of the year and the 2002 Sportsman of the year. The current youth stars include track and field athletes, Darrell Brown, Marc Burns, Fana Ashby and Danille Prime, and the newest addition, 14-year-old Tobagonian cyclist Lindell Brooks
Guardian Life's Youth Star Darrel Brown, 100M World Youth Champion was awarded the WITCO Foundation's "Sportsman of the Year 2002". Darrel was also named "Male Athlete of the Year" by the National Amateur Athletic Association of Trinidad and Tobago (NAAA).
In 2001 Darrel had a great international season winning Gold in the 100M and 4 x 100M relay at both the CAC Junior Games in Barbados and the Carifta Games in the Bahamas; 4 x 100M Gold at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia with fellow Youth Star Marc Burns and two other school mates of the El Dorado Senior Comprehensive School in a record breaking performance; 100M Gold at the International Amateur Athletic Federation World Junior Games in Jamaica in a new record time of 10.09 seconds.
On the local circuit Darrel racked up wins at the Southern Games, the NEMWIL National Secondary Schools Track and Field Championship, the 28th Annual Hampton International Games where he set a new national junior record of 10.19 seconds. Darrel, who has gone professional, is Trinidad and Tobago's best track and field asset and Olympic hopeful. He now attends the Southern Union College in the US and hopes to move on to university at the start of the new school year.
Fana Ashby another YouthStar is a student at the Kansas City Kansas Community College. She was named indoor sprint queen in Southern Illinois in 2003 and she also captured the women's 60 metres title with a 7.32 seconds dash. Fana later went on to anchor her College's 4 x 400M relay team into 2nd place, with a time of 3 minutes. She was also selected.
In Safe Hands
In Safe Hands is one of Guardian Life's most recent youth and sport-oriented projects. Conceptualized by well-known West Indies wicket keeper, Deryck Murray, now Guardian Life's Vice President of Affinity Marketing, it focuses on the development and re-ignition of cricket wicket keepers and is open to youths 13 to 18. Guardian Life's three-year commitment to the programme started in 2002 and continues to be invaluable to the development programmes of cricket in Trinidad and Tobago.
