A few senior cricketers have made a big investment in the future of the sport ? the Island?s youth.

St.George?s coach George Cannonier, all-rounder Herbie Bascome, skipper Gregg Foggo and club executive Lewis Foggo, spinners Dwayne (Sluggo) Leverock and Kameron Fox along with Social Club player Desmond Crockwell have all devoted some of their spare time to help groom Bermuda?s up and coming talents.

Last weekend Wellington Oval was the venue for St.George?s Cricket Club?s Under 13 Youth Tournament which saw ten players from eight teams battle it out in a series of limited overs (24) matches.

Each team, smartly clad in exquisite coloured clothing, received a maximum of 12 overs in which to bat and at the conclusion of the day?s play, team Advance Engineering, Cleveland, Somerset and St.David?s Esso all emerged victorious.

Advanced Engineering defeated Bailey?s Bay by 16 runs, Cleveland handed Somers Supermart a seven-wicket defeat, Somerset prevailed over St.George?s by nine-wickets while St.David?s Esso defeated Flatts by nine-wickets.

Now organisers for the event, sponsored in part by Baltimore -based soccer professional David Bascome, hope to extend the event well into the summer months.

?We are trying to extend it as long as possible because we want the youngsters to experience more time playing and have the opportunity to better themselves,? explained Somerset coach Leverock.

?It is very important the youngsters get to play amongst their peers in competitions like this.

?Not only do they get to play . . . their involvement also promotes camaraderie amongst themselves because they really don?t have many opportunities to play amongst themselves at that age (under 13) bracket.?

So far, said Leverock, the youngsters are ?really enjoying themselves?.

?They are very much enjoying it. It is all about the youth and we encourage them just to go out there; have a bit of fun and enjoy themselves. And that?s exactly what they did ? enjoy themselves tremendously,? he added.

Organisers will again stage the tournament on Saturday at Wellington Oval while plans are currently in the works to have the event staged at various other club grounds across the Island.

?We are trying to obtain other locations because we also want the tournament to include youngsters from the Central and West End of the Island,? said Leverock.

Also delighted to see the tournament get off to a flying start, was St.George?s Cricket Club sports chairman Lewis Foggo.

He said: ?If we didn?t have this tournament going on, then we would have had 80 youngsters doing absolutely nothing. We are providing an avenue for the youth to; not only show what they can do in the sport, but also to enjoy themselves playing cricket as well.

?We had a great turnout and every team was fully represented. The tournament began with an official opening ceremony and once play started I was impressed by the level of cricket these youngsters played.?

Foggo encouraged the public to come and support Bermuda?s youth when the tournament resumes at Wellington Oval on Saturday.

Play begins at 9.30 a.m. and admission is free.