Pottaya stands out at successful RHTY&SC Bakewell/Buster 2024 Academy

The curtains for the 34th edition of the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club annual Cricket Academy came down on Friday last with an impressive closing ceremony at the Rose Hall Town Primary School.
The Academy, which started on Monday, July 8, attracted the registration of close to 90 youths and was conducted by a panel of cricket coaches headed by Level 3 cricket coach Winston Smith. Other cricket coaches were Gregory Crandon, Floyd Benjamin, Ryan Algu, and former national player Eon Hooper.
Present at the closing ceremony were Rose Hall Town Mayor Dave Budhu, Town Clerk Natasha Griffith, former Mayor Chattergoon Ramnauth and Region Six Sports Officer Randy Mangru.
Club Secretary Hilbert Foster stated that despite the weather which affected several days, the 2024 Bakewell/Busta Academy was a huge success and exceeded the club’s expectation. The coaches placed special emphasis on physical fitness while numerous sessions were done with the main objective of improving the batting, bowling and fielding skills of the youths. The participants were also involved in several practice matches and had lectures on a wide range of topics such as history of the game, rules of cricket, rules of a sports ambassador, personal hygiene, importance of education, table manners, drug abuse, peer pressure, and respect for the elderly. Members of the Academy also handed over a donation to the Port Mourant therapy unit and Rose Hall Town Council security department as part of their community development outreach campaign.

RHTY&SC Cricket Manager Robby Kissoonlall noted that the success of the club on the cricket field could be traced back to the club’s Cricket Academy, which since 1991 has trained over 4000 youths. A total of 123 players from the Academy has gone on to play for either Berbice and Guyana while 16 have played for the West Indies at different levels. Nine RHTY&SC members have also played at the international level. They are Assad Fudadin, Royston Crandon, Kevin Sinclair, Akshay Homraj, Dominique Ricky, Shemaine Campbell, Shabika Gajnabi, Sheneta Grimmond, and Erva Giddings.
Kissoonlall noted that the Academy also produced last week two players for the West Indies Under-19 female team, Trisha Hardat and Danellie Manns.
Head Coach Winston Smith stated that he and the other coaches were very impressed with the work ethic of the youths. Smith noted that the coaches were able to successfully complete their planned programme. The Head Coach urged the youths to continue working on their personal game and to put into practice what they have learnt.
Regional Sports Officer Randy Mangru hailed the outstanding work of the club over the years. He noted that sports in the region would benefit from millions of dollars of investment by the Government of Guyana into venues across the county.
Guyana junior cricketer Matthew Pottaya was named Cricketer of the Academy after a close and competitive battle with several other players. Participants were involved in a multiple-choice test for 50 marks, while 10 marks were available from an essay and 40 marks were given for attendance, commitment, personal discipline and performance on the cricket field. The runner-up at the Academy was national Under-13 player Tameshwar Deonadan while the best female was Jada Frazer, niece of Kevlon Anderson.
The other awardees were:
1. Best batsman: Mario Butcher
2. Best bowler: Sohil Sirkisoon
3. Best attendance: Dev Seepersaud
4. Most disciplined: Darvish Narain
5. Most improved player: Ravindra Persaud
6. Best Under 13 player: Jaden Ganpat
7. Best Under 11 player: Joshua Brijlal
8. Best fielder: Leon Reddy
Special awardees: Jonathan Hicks, Nars Lachgadu, Sohil Veerapen, Nicholas Cameron, Jevon Crandon, Darwin McKenzie and Dinesh Singh.
The Cricketer of the Academy received close to $300,000 worth of prizes including an electric bike from KC Singh; electronic tablet; a King’s Jewellery World gold medallion; designer clothing and watch; headphones; kitchen utensils; household items, including a lazy boy from AH and L Kissoon; cosmetics hampers; and food hampers. The best batsman and best bowler received a complete cricket kit from Demerara Bank, Rose Hall Branch. Other awardees received a wide range of prizes including trophies, bicycles, electronic tablets, hampers, footwear, designer watches, educational packages and sports gear. Each participant of the Academy received a medal of service, school bag and a hot and cold flask.
The RHTY&SC also presented two special gifts to the coaches at the Academy. The club would like to express special thanks to all the persons and companies who contributed to the success of the Academy including Bakewell, Guyana Beverage Company, the National Assembly, Minister Joseph Hamilton, Minister Collin Croal, Minister Susan Rodriguez, KC Singh, DeSinco Trading, Banks DIH, Romario Samaroo, John Ramsingh, Alistair Collins, Target Innovation, Mike’s Pharmacy, NAMILCO, Roger Harper, Bhesram Ramnaut, Kiran Kadir, Dr Terrence Blackman, Donna Todd, Demerara Bank, Canadian Surplus, and Chris Lachman of the USA among others.
The RHTY&SC also unveiled its squad of 12 Under-11 players from the Academy for its special elite training programme which would start shortly. The players selected were Lamar Lafleur, Akeem Frazer, Randy Williams, Kelvin Ramlal, Anthony Sirkisoon, Dilshan La Cruz, Aden Moore, Jawan Frank, Daniel Alexander, Ronaldo Roberts, Kumar Chandradeo and Jonathan Lyte. These players would be invested in for the future with special training and gear.