– BCB and RHTY&SC honour Sawh with highest awards
Eight cricket clubs from the Upper Corentyne area, along with two young cricketers from Port Mourant and Tucber Park respectively, on Tuesday last received over #1.4 million worth of cricket gear from Vitality Inc.
The company, which would shortly be officially launched in Guyana, is headed by overseas-based Guyanese Sureian Sawh, a former resident of Upper Corentyne, before he migrated to the United States of America (USA).
The clubs receiving the gear were: No 73 Young Warriors, No 72 Cut and Load, No 72 All Stars, No 70 MYO, NO 68 Turn team, No 68 Darkeners Superstars, NO 69 Red Rose and NO 69 Vikings Cricket teams.
BCB President Hilbert Foster, who spearheaded the project, has said the presentation was another ‘red letter’ day in the continuing development of Berbice cricket. He said the ongoing pandemic was affecting many clubs from organising fund-raising events to obtain cricket gear, and as such, donations such as the contribution from Vitality is much welcome.
Foster noted that since his administration came into office in 2018, clubs and youth cricketers have benefited from more than $13M worth of items. These include cricket gears, cricket balls, stumps, bicycles, school bags, uniforms, scorebooks and water pitchers, among other things.
The BCB President disclosed that he was surprised to be contacted by Sawh, who indicated that he was very impressed by the development taking place in Berbice cricket, and wanted to contribute to clubs in his birthplace.
The donated items include batting pads, batting gloves, helmets, stumps, gears bag, among other things, and each club received a package worth about $150K dollars. The company also handed over two cricket packages to two promising youth players from the Port Mourant Cricket Clubs. They each collected a pair of batting pads, batting gloves and a bat.
Foster has urged the clubs and players to take care of the donated gears, and to use them for the intended purpose. He also advised the management of the clubs to invest in youth teams so that the future of each of the clubs can be assured.
Director of Vitality Inc, Mahesh Ramoutar, speaking on behalf of the company, said numerous donations were done across the country in private over the last few years, and as business expands in Guyana, the list of recipients would be broadened.
He said he is associated with Berbice Cricket, and expressed confidence that the relationship would be expanded in the future. Immediately after the presentation, Foster and Sawh led their delegation in talks to strengthen the relationship. Discussions centred on a cricket tournament for the Upper Corentyne area, an educational scholarship, and assistance for first division teams. The BCB would soon release updates on the progress of talks.
Lakeram Latchman, speaking on behalf of the eight teams, expressed gratitude to Vitality Inc for the much-needed assistance. He hailed the leadership of Foster at the BCB as remarkable, and reassured the donors that the gears would be taken care of.
The BCB and the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club (RHTY&SC) have also conferred their highest awards -Tribute to Heroes and Dolphin Award of Excellence respectively – on Sawh.
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