The 2007 schoolboy cricket season bowls off today with an opening ceremony at Vere Technical High School, commencing at 9:00 a.m.
Following the opening ceremony, hosts Vere Technical will face Kemps Hill High in the opening match of the Grace Headley Cup.
The urban Grace Shield will start on Friday with Jamaica College hosting Meadowbrook at Old Hope Road.
Commitment
Meanwhile, GraceKennedy Company Limited, through its financial services companies, underlined their commitment to the development of the sport while renewing their sponsorship of the schoolboy cricket competitions with more funds.
The 2007 season will benefit from an $8 million sponsorship deal, in addition to a $200, 000 Raphael Diaz Cash Award for the top eight coaches, four from the Grace Headley Cup and four from the Grace Shield competition.
Exclusive sponsor
Last season, GraceKennedy financial services companies created history, becoming the first to exclusively sponsor schoolboy cricket.
The sponsorship, brought under one deal the long-standing rural and urban cricket competitions, as well as the inauguration of a rural under-14 competition to complement the Grace Jackie Hendriks Under-14 for Corporate Area high schools.
GraceKennedy has had a long association with schoolboy cricket dating back to the 1980s when the company began its 20-year sponsorship of the Sunlight Cup.
Since renaming the competition Grace Shield in 2001, the company has invested just over $20 million towards the development of the sport.
Long haul
Paul Mitchell, finance director at JIIC, one of its subsidiaries, said: "At GraceKennedy, we know that it is at the schoolboy level that the future stars of the game develop their craft.
"We are committed to the programme as it is certainly rewarding to know that over the last few years all the Jamaicans that have gone on to play for the West Indies team have passed through the schoolboy system."
He added: "We're here for the long haul because we know that schoolboy cricket is an important stage for building the character of the boys who participate and it's also a great source of pride for the school families."
