The long- standing relationship between the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club and Bakewell was last Friday renewed for the 25th consecutive year during a simple presentation ceremony at the company Triumph East Coast Demerara Head Office. The company started its sponsorship of the RHTYSC in 2000 by supporting the club second division team.
Club secretary Hilbert Foster stated that over the years, Bakewell has been the second longest official sponsor after Farfan and Mendes Ltd, which came on board in 1997.
Bakewell’s sponsorship now covers the club under 17 and second division teams. Additionally, the popular bakery is also a co-sponsor of the RHTYSC annual Cricket Academy. Foster disclosed that the company sponsorship has resulted in both teams winning a combined 23 cricket titles over the years and has produced dozens of players for Berbice, Guyana and West Indies. The players include Kevin Sinclair, Esau Crandon, Royston Crandon, Assad Fudadin, Kevlon Anderson, Shemaine Campbell, Shabiki Gajnabi, Jonathan Rampersaud, Dominique Ricky, Akshay Homraj, Delbert Hicks, Khemraj Mahadeo, Jeremy Sandia, Junior Sinclair, Keith Simpson, Matthew Pottaya, Sheneta Grimmond, Erva Giddings and Slyus Tyndall.
Foster stated that Anderson, Tyndall, Kevin Sinclair and Junior Sinclair were the foundation of the Bakewell second division team five years ago as part of their developmental progress and today they are all established players for the senior Guyana team or the Amazon Warriors CPL team. Dominique Ricky and Akshay Homraj, former members of the under 17 and second division teams has also gone on to play international cricket for the United States of America. The partnership has produced a combined 12 players who have played at the international level and the RHTYSC was very grateful to Bakewell for its sponsorship over the years.
RHTYSC cricket manager Robby Kissoonlall stated that the 2024 under 17 team would be led by Berbice player Romesh Bharat with Kulmalchan Ramnaris as his Deputy while Surendra Kissoonlall and Jonathan Rampersaud are responsible for the second division teams. Under the sponsorship, the two teams would be required to undertake a combined total of 45 community projects. These would include the distribution of food hampers, award ceremonies, feeding of the needy, clean- up campaign, television
program, educational programs, youth camp among others.
The RHTYSC cricket academy would be held at the Area H ground from the 8th to 19th of July. The academy would cater for 120 youths between the ages of 8 to 19 years and the club is hoping to attract at least 25 young females. The academy would commence at 9 am daily and snacks would be provided to all of the attendees along with the needed educational materials for the classroom work. Special emphasis would be placed on teaching youths the history, rules and traditions of the game while improving their skills in batting, bowling and fielding. The team of coaches would be led by head level three coach Winston Smith while experienced educators would host several lectures on topics of importance to youth including peer pressure, importance of education, team unity, personal discipline and drug abuse. A total of $300,000 worth of prizes would be shared out to the top awardee of the academy including cricket gears, designer clothing, footwear, electronic tablet, cycles, educational materials, household items and gold jewelry. Youths in the cricket academy would also be involved in several community activities. Foster stated that application forms are now available at the club Area H ground for interested youths for the 34th cricket academy of the club. The long- standing secretary expressed thanks to the management of Bakewell for their support especially General Manager Rajin Ganga and administrative assistant Natasha Bhikhari . Ganga in brief remarks stated that his company was very pleased to be associated with the RHTYSC and hailed the club as an outstanding representative of its brand.
