Distinguished New York businessman, Hafeez “Mr. Rockaway” Ali was last Friday recognized by the Everest Cricket Club (ECC) for his sterling contribution to the club over the years.
Life Members alike, Hafeez Ali and Rajesh Singh display their gold ECC membership cards at the club’s pavilion on Friday
It was during the evening of celebration for the club’s Masters Team that the announcement was made that Ali is the newest Life Member of the historic club. The Masters Team recently journeyed to Trinidad and Tobago where they played and won a-three match series against quality oppositions and Ali was part of the team as a player. However, the 52-year old Guyanese who now resides in the ‘Big Apple’ was recognized for his contributions off the field.
Ali first visited the Camp road and Carifesta Avenue club in 2014 as a member of the New York Blasters Cricket Club and the love affair began immediately. Since then, through his business, The Rockaway Group of Companies, Ali is a proud sponsor of the Everest Cricket Club. Uniforms for the Masters and First Division teams were fully sponsored while outstanding and promising players are regular recipients of cricket gears and financial support as forms of encouragement for their good performances.
When available, the pugnacious right hander opener gives Everest masters promising starts both locally and overseas and his 46 against Clarke Road on the recent tour of Trinidad and Tobago failed to give his team the series in the second match.
During the night of celebration, the executives of the club presented Ali with his membership card from current club president, Rajesh Singh. After being a dedicated club member for 25 consecutive years, Singh was also presented with his Life membership card as well.
In response, Ali said that although he is not based in Guyana he is honoured to be given the prestigious award. Ali stated that the achievement was as a result of his loyalty and encouraged current members to be respectful and always do their best.
Rajendra Chandriaka was the third awardee of the evening but was absent due to his participation in the ongoing Digicel Professional Cricket League Regional Four Day Tournament where he is a member of the Guyana Jaguars. Chandrika’s award is as a result of the right handed opener gaining selection to the senior West Indies team. It is a club policy for such players to be bestowed with the honour. Ryan Ramdass who now resides in Canada was the most recent recipient of such an award.
