Competitions, Games and Fun to support a cause
Report by Moti David
Kuwait, Nov 21: Friends of CRY Club (FOCC) hosted CRYcket 2007 was a roaring success on all counts at Ahmadi on 9th November, sponsored by Western Union Money Transfer. The event coinciding with India's major Diwali festival had the large crowd watching 25 keenly contested games. The participation in the spectator sport like raffle and bingo, the 'Buy for CRY' stall, and the children games conducted was a delight with the large spectators. The full day event commenced at 6.30am and concluded at 5pm perfectly as scheduled at the KOC Hockey Grounds and the splendid weather added its charm. The winner of the Under 12 category Gladiators defeated The Titans and Warriors true to their name fought hard to grab the Under 14 champions trophy defeating equally strong Supersonic Scorpios.
The under 14 group comprised of TEC Kids, Kuwait Eagles, Friends XI, Warriors, Gladiator Seniors, DIPS Seniors, Safwan Masters, Gladiators Supreme and Supersonic Scorpios. The under 12 group included The Titans, Safwan Blasters, Salmiya Tigers, DIPS `B', Fantastic XI, Gladiators Juniors, Reggae Cricket Club Juniors, Safwan Tots, Rising Stars, Triple Threat-Spinniys, and DIPS `A'. Anil Kumar Rai, Second Secretary, Consular Services, Embassy of India was the chief guest and presented the trophies to the Winners and the Runners-up Team. The event was patronized by Western Union Money Transfer, Al-Rashed Group, Payal Jewellers, Oriental Restaurant, Khalil Bahman, KAPICO Tours & Travels, Sports Corner, Gulf Mart, Ahmadi Studios, among others. Experienced officials who stood as Umpires included Arjuna Amaratunga, Peter Castillo, Julius, Robin, Iqbal Hussain. The childen in their sport catchy coloured cricket kits entertained the spectators – both the young and the old with their batting, bowling and scores.
The tournament was well supported by the qualified and experienced umpires from the Kuwait Cricket Association' s (KCA) Umpires' Panel. Kids Corner kept the children occupied while the CRY counter provided information on the ways to assist and help the underprivileged children in India and the activities of CRY to restore their rights. FOCC thanked all the sponsors, team coaches, umpires, KCA, KOC Hockey committee in a very special way, and the participating schools and parents for their support and encouragement to their children in support of CRY. The local media and newspapers gave a wide coverage for the event. FOCC thanked the Kuwait Times, and press for their continued patronage.
The Kids Corner arranged games, music and competitions. Interestingly, the Kids Corner was managed by children themselves under the able supervision of Nisrin Merchant and Shegufa Merchant – both FOCC members, along the sidelines of the keenly contested cricket matches played between 20 teams grouped into two – under 12 and under 14 years respectively. CRYcket 2007 was sponsored by Western Union Money Transfer.
The volunteers at the Kids Corner and the main podium deserves a word of praise - Ikhlas Merchant, Geetu Sebastian, Enaam Merchant, Rana Modak, Brandon D’Sa, Medihah Merchant, Ameera Khalid, Kinara D’Sa, Neenu Shoukath, Priyantha Murali, Dwane Almeida, Tamara D’Sa, Charmaine Almeida, among others. The volunteers showed full devotion for their assignments and perform well even at the face painting and mehendi designs on plams. The essay and drawing competitions were divided into two categories. Drawing competition themes were ‘Your favourite sport’ and ‘Your favourite festival’.
Thameena Abeer was declared the winner for the first category, whereas the themes for the other category were ‘The Sport You Liked Most’ and ‘Technology and Your World’. Ambroze Lazarus Was adjudged the winner. Essay topics were ‘Child labour and What a child feels about it’; and ‘What if ...You were given unrestricted internet access’. Supriya S. was declared the winner. The judges for the competitions were Mustafa Lokhandwala and Dorothy Almeida. Prizes and certificates were presented to the winners of the competitions. Young DJ’s Chhavi Chaudhry and Shreya Kumar keenly gave the best of Hindi and English music and wholesome entertainment. As the evening winded off, every participating kid had their medals and certificates from FOCC committee members and a bright smile.
As the FOCC slogan goes 'everybody wins!'. Other FOCC activities held all the year round is the Brain Bang and the annual CRYchess. For those interested in joining as volunteers and supporters, email: focckwt@yahoo.com or visit www.focckwt.org