Huye Inter-Schools Cricket Tourney gets underway

Rwanda Cricket Association (RCA) will launch the inaugural Huye inter-schools Mini cricket tournament today at Kabutare TSS in Huye. The one-day tournament has attracted 200 boys and girls from 10 schools competing in one of three regional championships organized in the country. “These tournaments are targeting talented children so that they feed the national development teams and the senior national team in the future,” revealed RCA General Manager, Joshua Mwanja. The other two regional tournaments will be held in Kinihira and Kigali on July 26 and July 29 respectively. According to Mwanja, the best 24 players from each region will join a training camp for two weeks before a tournament is held for all the three teams from Kigali, Kinihira and Huye. The top 14 from the three sides will form the national U-15 and U-17 teams for both boys and girls. The boys’ U-17 side will then compete in the schools cricket week in Uganda from August 15-22 at Lugogo Cricket Oval in Kampala. Rwanda has in the past competed at the Ugandan event in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011. Mwanja said that, “This is an opportunity for more exposure because the Uganda schools cricket week is very competitive. It will also help them to learn how to approach the game because they have mostly been undergoing training sessions and it will be motivation for the players to travel to another country to represent Rwanda.” Narayan Uniforms and Sports donated all the trophies to be awarded to the winners and individual best performers and Managing Director Pravin Veckaria said, “It is important to support young players who will make a lasting impact on the game in the future.”