Saturday, 4 June 2011 - Trinidad - Rain at the Queen’s Park Oval did not deter members of the West Indies team from spending some quality time with 22 members of the Trinidad & Tobago Special Olympics Team who will be travelling to Athens, Greece for the Special Olympics World Summer Games 2011. 

Several West Indies players, including Ravi Rampaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, West Indies Captain Darren Sammy, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons, Devendra Bishoo and Andre Fletcher sat in the stands with the special athletes and talked to them about their upcoming trip and their personal goals for the Games in Athens. The athletes will be competing in basketball, football, power lifting and bocce. 

When the skies cleared, the group of athletes took to the field to play some bocce, and the competitive spirit in both the West Indies players and the Special Olympians was evident to all. 

“This was a nice day for our athletes,” said Odette Nicome, Special Olympics Basketball Coach. “They enjoyed the interaction with the Windies players, and I would like to thank Digicel for making it happen. Digicel Trinidad & Tobago has supported the Special Olympics programme in Trinidad & Tobago since the company opened its doors in 2003, and I can honestly say that I do not know of any other company which has helped us the way that Digicel has.”

“Digicel is proud to be affiliated with the Trinidad & Tobago Special Olympics programme,” said Niall Dorrian, CEO of Digicel T&T. “We believe in their objectives and we are expecting great things in Athens from the group of 54 who will be competing for Trinidad & Tobago. I hope that the time that these two groups of athletes spent together today was mutually beneficial as I am sure they both were able to learn valuable lessons from one another.”

-ENDS-

ABOUT THE DIGICEL SERIES 2011
The West Indies v India Series 2011 kicks off on Saturday 4^th June in Trinidad & Tobago’s Queen’s Park Oval with the Digicel Pearls T20 match. The five Digicel Pearls ODI matches take place in Trinidad, Antigua and Jamaica followed by the Digicel Test Series featuring three Test Matches in Jamaica, Barbados and Dominica, concluding on 10^th July.

ABOUT FIRE IN BABYLON
In a turbulent era of apartheid in South Africa; race-riots in England and civil unrest in the Caribbean, the West Indian cricketers struck a wonderfully defiant blow at the forces of white prejudice world-wide. Told from a West Indian perspective, in their own words, “Fire in Babylon” celebrates the emancipation of a people through sport, whilst painting a fascinating picture of this extraordinary era of sporting dominance and its roots in politics, pride, anti-colonial fury and music.

With Caribbean flair, fearless spirit and a thumping reggae beat, they hijacked the genteel game of the privileged elite and replayed it on their own terms.

Directed by Stevan Riley (Blue Blood), produced by Charles Steel (the BAFTA-winning The Last King of Scotland), and John Battsek (the Oscar-winning “One Day In September”), with Ben Goldsmith and Ben Elliot as executive producers, “Fire In Babylon” boasts dynamic archive and classic music by the likes of Bob Marley and the Wailers, Gregory Issacs and Burning Spear.

ABOUT DIGICEL GROUP
After ten years of operation, Digicel Group Limited has 11.5 million customers across its 32 markets in the Caribbean, Central America and the Pacific. The company is renowned for delivering best value, best service and best network.

Digicel is the lead sponsor of Caribbean, Central American and Pacific sports teams, including the Special Olympics teams throughout these regions. Digicel sponsors the West Indies cricket team and is also the title sponsor of the Digicel Caribbean Cup. In the Pacific, Digicel is the proud sponsor of several national rugby teams and also sponsors the Vanuatu cricket team.

Digicel also runs a host of community-based initiatives across its markets and has set up Digicel Foundations in Jamaica, Haiti and Papua New Guinea which focus on educational, cultural and social development programmes.
 
In 2004, Digicel developed Digicel Rising Stars – an annual talent show to support aspiring young music artists in the Caribbean. The show has spanned the Eastern Caribbean, Haiti, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago ranking as one of the top-rated shows.

Digicel is incorporated in Bermuda and its markets comprise: Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, Barbados, Bermuda, Bonaire, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Curacao, Dominica, El Salvador, Fiji, French Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Nauru, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, St Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Suriname, Tonga, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks & Caicos and Vanuatu. Digicel also has coverage in St. Martin and St. Barts in the Caribbean.

Visit www.digicelgroup.com for more information.