Bond urges improved partnerships with stakeholders

University of Guyana 2017/2018 Awards Ceremony

The University of Guyana held its Annual Sports Awards for the 2017/2018 season on Friday at the Education Lecture Theatre at Turkeyen.
The ceremony, with all the formalities in place, was chaired by sports organiser Lavern Fraser and was attended by many esteemed guests, among whom were President of the Guyana Chess Federation, James Bond; and President of the Demerara Cricket Club (DCC), Roger Harper.
Addressing the large body of students present, UG Registrar Dr Nigel Gravesande said, “We’ve had a very successful 2018, and as we approach 2019, you would see the sporting calendar intensify and the synergies being established between your academic life and sports.”
He encouraged the athletes to continue being discreet in their respective disciplines and to not give up or compromise their standing.

The night’s feature address was delivered by Attorney-at-Law James Bond, who reflected on his early days as a youth involved in sports, and shared that it was a form of escape for him. Bond added, “Something is missing in sport. In economies where there are scarce resources, sport is left behind; but why my focus has been more on academics is because it has allowed me (to travel) all over the world, in places like China and even Grenada. Because sport has nothing to offer in Guyana, sport is not incentivised. In University it is the same, it is not incentivised.
“You gain many accolades across your university life, but how does it affect your grades? Are there credits attached to that sport? My challenge to the University fraternity is that when it comes to sport, let us not only advance in robust calendar, but I know that in the fraternity you can pull multiple stakeholders together and make sports worth the while for students whilst they attend here,” Bond said.
He added that he believes partnerships with multiple stakeholders is indeed essential for advancing sport in the University and in Guyana.
Bond opined that the University’s grounds are not up to par, but he said the only avenue to fix an issue is to have strong partnerships with stakeholders.
Some awards presented at the ceremony were for the recently concluded chess and scrabble competition, which saw Chess King Davion Mars, Scrabble Queen Christina Basil, and Scrabble King Meikel Mohabir all claiming awards.
Dennis Heywood was rewarded for the 16 wickets he had taken in the recently concluded NBS First Division cricket tournament. Omesh Danram was rewarded for his 285-run aggregate; and Linden Austin, who had put in some hard work to claim the Most Improved Cricketer award, was also rewarded.
The ceremony also saw Coach of the UG Trojans basketball team, Warren Wilson, who piloted the Under-23 team to their first GABA League title, being rewarded.
Fraser expressed gratitude to Bryden and Fernandes Limited for their being on board with the University from day one. Bill Express, whose assistance played an integral part in sponsoring the cricket team, was also thanked, as was Dev. Co Construction, which provided support to sport at UG. (Timothy Jaikarran)