'Design a Mascot' competition gets strong support

Scotiabank's regional sponsorship manager, Simone Hull, is expressing delight at responses to their Kiddy Cricket 'Design a Mascot' competition, which was recently launched in partnership with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).

The competition, which is open to children between the ages of seven and 12 years old, is part of revamping of the Kiddy Cricket programme, which seeks to identify and develop young talents, and according to Hull both the number of entries and designs have been interesting, two weeks into the six-week event.

"We decided to re-examine the programme to see how we can make it better and more improved for the children, and one such initiative that we decided on was a redesign of the programme's mascot," said Hull.

"So far, we have had several entries coming in from across the island, and have had mascot designs featuring donkey, lion, dog, panda bear, crossovers between rabbit creatures, you name it.

"It's an exciting initiative thus far and we are really looking forward to the final date of selection," she added.

Clarence to be replaced

The winning design will replace 'Clarence the Crab', the existing mascot, which has been the animated face of the competition since 1998.

Clarence the Crab appeared on and off the field of play during Kiddy Cricket displays, and was the main feature of the programme's classroom teaching manual Clarence Goes to School, which taught children Ministry of Education approved curriculum using cricket imagery.

The competition, which is scheduled to end on February 18, primarily targets Kiddy Cricket schools across 14 Caribbean countries. However, students outside of these schools can enter.

Entries, which can be delivered online at the programme's Face-book page or at any Scotiabank office, will be judged on originality, reflection of the Caribbean, use of colours (kids friendly and use of sponsors colours), and use of cricket imagery.

The competition is being held in two stages, first at the country level and then at a regional level, and will end with a regional judging of the 1st place winners from each participating territory.

The judging panel at the country level will comprise of technical development officers from local cricket boards, and members of the Scotiabank team in that country.

The WICB and Scotiabank regional teams will then sit on the judging panel for the regional level competition.

The 14 national winners are set to win attractive prizes, including Nintendo game consoles, MP3 players and Scotiabank branded items. The top prize for the overall winner will be a laptop.

- J.L.