Large turnout in Santa Cruz for ‘Dwayne Bravo Day For Kids’

The event started at 10 am and treated approximately 500 children, aged five to 15 years from Bravo’s home village of Santa Cruz and its environs, to a day of cricket and football.

The day of fun and laughter also featured pony and train rides, bouncy castles, face painting, a photo booth and a petting zoo sponsored by blink/bmobile.

Several of Bravo’s West Indies and national cricket colleagues were in attendance. They played sports with the children, as well as signed autographs. Among the popular faces were Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Darren Sammy, Andre Russell, Fidel Edwards and Sunil Narine.

Bravo, who spent the day out on the field playing cricket with the kids and meeting their families said, “today is all about fun for the children. It’s one of my ways of giving back to the village and community where I’m from.” However, this was also an educational day for the children.

The ‘Champion’ explained, “we want to expose them to cricket from a young age and teach them a little about the game fundamentals such as batting, bowling and fielding. The coaches here will also be looking out for talent and we will keep in touch with these children with the aim of encouraging them to continue playing the sport.” Camille Campbell, TSTT’s Chief Marketing Officer (Ag), expressed her delight at seeing the youngsters learning about sports, while enjoying themselves in a healthy, clean, fun-filled environment.

She stated, “blink | bmobile will continue to support initiatives like this because it encourages a love of sports and a healthy lifestyle in children. We hope that many of them will continue to participate in sports to add to the future pool of talent here in Trinidad and Tobago, and also because sports contribute to the development of positive, well-rounded citizens.” Ramona Pitman was there with her eight-year old son Rojinio because she wants to encourage his love for cricket. She said, “Rojinio is a big cricket fan and is excited to be here. I came here today because I try to expose my son to as much cricket as possible.

Rojinio loves Dwayne Bravo and can also name all the other players here. This is good for him to be able to see the players up close and interact with them.” Referring to blink/bmobile’s sponsorship, Pitman said, “I appreciate that blink/bmobile does a lot of sponsorship and community work. They should keep up the good work and continue working with the kids. That is important because it gives our children the motivation to follow their passion and their dreams.” Brendon Ache was at the ‘Day for Kids’ because he also wants his son, four-year-old Jean-Luke, to learn about cricket. Ache remarked, “I love cricket but my father never got me involved as a youth. However, I plan to do this with my son. I want Jean-Luke to learn about cricket and other sports, and to get to know his local cricket heroes as well. It’s great that Dwayne Bravo does not forget his roots and is giving back to the youths and his community.” Debra Forde brought her three children - Clinton (nine), MaKada and Elijah (both six). She stated, “we came last year and wanted to attend again this year because my kids enjoyed it a lot. This is an excellent idea and Dwayne Bravo should keep it up because it is a good way for the children of Santa Cruz to unplug from their tablets and TVs and get healthy exercise by playing sports while learning new activities.” Bravo thanked blink/bmobile for their sponsorship and said, “I am proud to be a blink/bmobile ambassador for 10 years. They have been supportive of me from Day One and I’m grateful because without it, some things I do, like this “Day For Kids’ would not be possible.”