Everest Cricket Club (ECC), one of the nation’s most longstanding and outstanding sporting facilities, has again been given a tangible boost to its efforts with Starr Computers donating to the club a complete computer system and printer in the interest of sport and youth development.
President of the Everest Cricket Club, Manzoor Nadir (third from left), and President of Starr Computers, Michael Mohan (centre), pose with other members of Everest Cricket Club and staff of Starr Computers at the presentation ceremony
Presentation of this donation was done at Starr’s state-of-the-art technology centre in the Georgetown ward of Brickdam on Wednesday, where Starr’s President Michael Mohan handed over a desktop computer, a multifunction colour printer and a backup power supply device to Everest Cricket Club President Manzoor Nadir.
Mohan described the donation as part of his company’s corporate social responsibility to enhance sport and youth development through technology.
“Having been in existence for more than 100 years, Everest Cricket Club has a legacy in Guyana of successfully turning out international cricketers; while, at Starr Computers, we pride ourselves on helping children with free seminars on career development, robotics, computer science, and renewable energy, among other topics, to help them ‘to catch the fish’, rather than giving them the fish. So this is really for the youngsters to embrace,” Mohan said.
The donation was initiated while Mohan was on a visit to the Camp Road Georgetown club on the invitation of Everest President Manzoor Nadir. After that visit, the top men agreed that Everest and other youth clubs need to grasp technology to be better able to run their institutions successfully, including enhancing membership drive and record keeping.
Nadir told Mohan that Everest was recently more focused on improving the club’s facilities for practice and play, but is now focusing on a capital development programme to improve the other facilities.
Upon collecting the donation on behalf of the club, Nadir expressed sincerest appreciation to Mohan and his trail blazing company, and said, “Apart from infrastructure, we, at Everest, have to move the club to the use of information technology to improve efficiency like other social groups and non-government organisations (NGOs).”
Nadir stressed that ECC is not only about producing great athletes, but is a centre for community activities and training, as evidenced by the recently held Summer camp wherein participants were engaged in many sporting and life changing activities.
A passionate sports fan, Nadir said the computer would be well utilized, especially since he is looking to develop a system wherein players’ biometrics would be available via software to add another twist to selection to the various teams at Everest.
He said technology will be used to tabulate individual performances, which would make the naming of the most prolific players at the end of a season or year much easier.
Mohan has hinted at making other donations to the club, which he believes is well managed and has a clear vision for the nation’s youths. He has extended an open invitation to the members of the ECC to visit Starr Computers for field trips, so they would benefit from opportunities to have hands-on experience with different devices, attend free seminars, and be able to pick up the valuable platinum membership card — which has many rewards, including discounts and reduced interest rates on loans at commercial banks.
Mohan has said he is hoping that young Guyanese would soon understand the importance of grasping technology against the risk of being left behind, since the pace of the world is very fast. “In Guyana, with the rapidly developing oil and gas industry, the young generation need to develop their technology skills to grab the opportunities, and not leave it to the foreigners to take,” the business executive has said.
Nadir also took the opportunity to invite individuals and groups to Everest to enjoy all that the premier sporting and youth development club has to offer.
