Diamond Utd cry out for help

FOR the love of cricket Brian Julien travels from Monkey Town, in Barrackpore, to Diamond Village, San Fernando, every day of the sporting calendar. His keen interest in cricket and cricket development led to him being elected president of the 40-year-old club Diamond United. Today the team is competing in the Southern Zonal Division I competition and the highly successful football section take part in the Southern Football Association. For all the success that has come their way, Diamond United have been made to struggle with very humble facilities along Papourie Road. The club has no proper seating facility and because of this, they missed out on a chance to be included in this year’s National Super League football series.

There are no restroom for female officials, and on match days, players and umpires have to go into the nearby canefields to relieve themselves in the full glare of the public. Julien explained: “This ground has been in existence for the past 40 years and up to now governments come and go and we are still suffering. “We need the government to assist us so that we can get a pavilion built on the ground. We are fortunate that by share guts and will power we have been able to do so well at both football and cricket. “When we look around and see the other grounds getting assistance we feel left out. “Recently, we saw a story about Usine Ste Madeleine in the Newsday and the immediate response they received. We are happy for them. “We were even more happy to read that Prime Minister Patrick Manning himself got involved to help them out. “Today we are asking our Prime Minister to take a look at our plight and assist us also, as sport is the only tool that can rid this country of the bad elements. Once the youths get involved in sports they are kept off the streets and this is a solution to crime. “We have a very large membership including a women’s soft ball team, hence we cater for a large cross-section of the Diamond/Debe/Barrackpore area.”

When Newsday visited the ground, the players were stacked up in an old wooden shed at the Western end, and when the wind blew parts of the roof were flapping about very dangerously to both  players and supporters. Julien ended: “The Penal/Debe Regional Corporation have been very good to us and have the outfield in tip-top condition. We cannot complain about the Corporation, what we are asking is that the central government get involve and pass on funds to the Corporation so that we can get a structure soon before our players get more frustrated. “We have lost so many talented players because of our facilities.”