Insurance giants NALICO/NAFICO have unveiled a comprehensive protection plan that will cover every single player, official, and venue for the upcoming Beharry Under-19 Schools’ Cricket Tournament.
The unprecedented agreement, announced at the company’s Georgetown headquarters on Tuesday, shifts the paradigm of how youth tournaments are managed in the region.
Rather than standard, limited personal accident insurance, this deal provides 24/7 logistical and physical coverage for some 1,600 student-athletes across 80 school teams throughout the competition.
Speaking at the launch ceremony on Hinck Street, NALICO/NAFICO CEO Dean Robertson emphasised that the policy extends far beyond injuries sustained on the pitch.
“This insurance doesn’t just cover the players; it covers the support staff, it covers the umpires,” Robertson explained.
“And games, stadiums, grounds, accommodation, and transportation—so it’s not just personal accident coverage when you’re actually competing. It gives peace of mind to parents and loved ones that everything is protected.”
For parents watching their children travel across the country to compete, the inclusion of transit and venue insurance removes a major source of anxiety.
The package guarantees that from the moment a player boards tournament transport until they return home, they are fully covered under the NALICO/NAFICO umbrella.
The tournament, which is scheduled to run from June 13 to August 8, represents a massive logistical undertaking.
Eighty teams have been split into eight distinct regional districts, stretching from the hinterland and coastland regions to the cricket heartlands of Berbice and Demerara.
While enthusiasm is sky-high, organisers are keeping a sharp eye on the sky. Unfavourable, inclement weather has threatened local ground preparations, but the Petra Organisation—the tournament’s coordinating body—remains undeterred.
“We cannot wait on the weather,” said Petra Organisation Consultant Troy Peters. “Our preparations are gaining momentum and we’re going full speed ahead. Once we have favourable weather, we will kick off. We are putting all the systems in place to ensure a smooth tournament from start to end.”
The initiative has drawn widespread praise from the local sporting fraternity. Malissa Sylvester, Chief Marketing Officer of tournament title sponsors Beharry Group, lauded the collaborative effort between the Ministry of Education, the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB), the media, and the Petra Organisation for turning a visionary concept into reality.
The action begins with highly competitive zonal playoffs played on a straight knockout basis. Once a champion is crowned in each of the eight zones, those winning teams will be ranked by Net Run Rate and split into two groups of four.
According to the lead coordinator, Azizi Christiani, the stakes intensify after a single round-robin group stage. The top two teams from each group will advance to the playoffs, mirroring the high-octane Caribbean Premier League (CPL) playoff system.
The top-seeded teams will clash in a Qualifier for a direct ticket to the grand final, while the losing side gets a second bite at the cherry against the winner of the elimination match between the second-place finishers.
The tournament’s eight zones are broken down as follows:
- Zone 1:Regions One and Two (10 teams)
- Zone 2:Regions Three and Seven (9 teams)
- Zone 3:East Bank Demerara and Upper Demerara (7 schools)
- Zone 4:South Georgetown (10 schools)
- Zone 5:North Georgetown (12 schools)
- Zone 6:East Coast Demerara (10 schools)
- Zone 7:West Berbice (6 schools)
- Zone 8:East Berbice/Corentyne (14 teams)
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