Mr Springer gave examples of a house, citing the importance of a foundation, and using it as a metaphor in relation to Cricket, not only in the St. Kitts and Nevis, But the Caribbean on a whole.
“In sports, development is important, thus one has to build from the base. At this primary level, one has to teach the fundamentals of all sports, including cricket. If all the fundamentals are taught at this level, when they get to the west Indies senior team level, it will be more of a preparation period as the stages go up; U-13, U-15, U-17, U-19, U-23 then into W.I A team then the W.I Test team.”
When asked about the challenges he might have faced in conducting this tournament, Springer added by saying, one of the difficulties was finding people who can think outside of the box.
He continued, “In the Caribbean we are accustomed to playing a normal cricket match, and that’s why me and my team introduced a number of initiatives, such as the opportunity for the games to be streamed live out of Warner Park.”
“This allows people especially from participating territories to keep abreast of the development of the tournament as it unfolds”, said Springer.
“Another challenge was having to paint a ‘picture’ to coaches and administrators from other countries, in order for them to understand the importance of this tournament. Every country wants to win but every country can’t, so it discourages countries from participating in the tournament” Springer said.
The Coordinator said that bigger and better things are in store for the 2012 regional tournament.
“(At) the conclusion of this tournament, a campaign will be (launched) to (attract) Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and St Lucia to join with Dominica to participate in the next contest, in 2012”, said Mr. Springer.
These countries have just started their Grass Roots Program to teach primary cricketers the basics of the game, and it is the tournament and the job of the members to further the Grass Roots Project to more countries, so that the tournament can be fully supported and successful as well as to promote cricket through the region, said the Coordinator.
He added, “St Kitts and Nevis is one of the places that can easily host regional tournaments because of our many sporting complexes on both islands.”
“We are currently engaged in negotiations with Redjet, to be a sponsor to help with the assistance of transporting the teams to and from St Kitts, thus boosting the importance of the campaign in order for a presentation to be presented to Redjet establishing who all are involved in the tournament” Mr. Springer Said
He ended by saying that he hopes in the near future that the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) would be on board in a big(ger) way, in terms of assisting other countries to participate in the tournament.
He expressed special thanks to the main sponsors, thanking them for their support and for understanding the importance of cricket from the primary stage. These included Trophy world of Barbados and Lime St. Kitts & Nevis.