Dubai: England’s legendary batsman and former skipper Kevin Pietersen will conduct an education camp for ten children coming from underprivileged backgrounds.
Two children from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Kenya and Australia have been selected for the Al Nabooda Insurance Brokers (ANIB)/KP 24 Foundation Scholarship Tour to be held from October 14 to 21 at the ICC Academy ground.
The camp’s aim is to try and boost the youngsters’ sporting skills and life development.
Speaking to Gulf News, S. Rajagopal, managing director of ANIB, said: “This event is our vision to encourage a greater sense of learning and a better grasp of life skills, through sports. We support this project to touch a few young and deserving lives.”
The children will thus be arriving in Dubai for the all-expenses-paid cricket and educational camp. The KP24 Foundation is a charitable initiative by Pietersen, and it endeavours to support children around the globe to have better chances in life through uniquely designed sport and educational projects.
Daniel Jason, the senior vice president of ANIB, said: “The programme is called ANIB KP24 as the number 24 is the number of the jersey that Pietersen used to wear when he represented England in international matches.”
The children come from tough conditions but are eager to play cricket. They did not even have a passport to travel before the programme was initiated.
“Pietersen will give tips based on his experience. Being a huge supporter of backing natural skills among players, Pietersen will inspire them to fully express their natural talents. Kids will also be trained as to how to handle media and give television interviews when they rise to become top sportsmen. They will be even asked to play the role of an interviewer. In short, through this uniquely designed sports and educational programme, Pietersen will shape the youngsters to become all-round sportsmen,” added Rajagopal.
ANIB has been supporting cricket in a big way in UAE and their team has won many domestic tournaments. They also hosted a tournament last year for the ANIB Trophy and Pietersen attended the final and presented the prizes.
Pietersen, after his last camp in the UAE, had remarked: “Whenever I come and work here and coach kids here and stage little clinics and give talks and little sessions I find it is always full of excitement and that just makes me happy and makes me want to come back to this place again.”
