RHTY&SC, NAMILCO renew first-division sponsorship for 5th consecutive year

The cricket sponsorship between the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club (RHTY&SC) and the National Milling Company of Guyana has been renewed for another year, after RHTY&SC executive Hilbert Foster led a delegation of club members at a meeting held at the company’s Agricola, East Bank Demerara offices. The
Announcement of the renewal was done by the NAMILCO Managing Director Bert Sukhai. The RHTY&SC delegation comprised NAMILCO player Matthew Pottaya and West Indies under-19 player Danellie Manns, while the officials of NAMILCO included Marketing Manager Alicia Anderson.
Foster stated that NAMILCO has been the official sponsor of the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club’s under-21 and first-division teams since 2019, and added that the club was very delighted for the rekindling of the relationship. The longstanding club secretary noted that both teams were very proud to represent the NAMILCO Thunderbolt Flour brand on and off the cricket field, as NAMILCO has been a true friend over the years.
The RHTY&SC NAMILCO Thunderbolt Flour first- division team has been the most dominant Berbice team over the last few years, and has produced numerous players for Berbice and Guyana. A total of 13 club members represented Guyana over the last year, while close to 30 were part of Berbice teams at different levels. These players include Kevin Sinclair, Kevlon Anderson, Junior Sinclair, Shemaine Campbelle, Silas Tindall, Sheneta Grimmond, Shabika Gajnabi, Trisha Hardat, Danellie Manns, Sohail Mohammed and Romesh Bharat.

Foster proudly informed the NAMILCO representatives that the RHTY&SC has six members in the 2024 Caribbean Premier League (CPL), 3 males and 3 females. Campbelle is currently with the West Indies female senior team, where she is the vice- captain. Four of the NAMILCO players: Kevin Sinclair, Junior Sinclair, Kevlon Anderson and Silas Tindall, also enjoy contracts at the national level, while Campbell, Grimmond and Gajnabi have regional contracts.
Foster stated that the first-division team has only lost one title under the NAMILCO sponsorship, and the club is investing heavily in new equipment such as practice nets, batting mats, fielding practice equipment, bowling machine, junior cricket kits and numerous boxes of cricket balls for training programmes. The teams under the leadership of Clinton Pestano were successful in completing over 60 self-development programmes under the sponsorship, among which are the annual academy, awards ceremony, grade 6 summer camp, tribute to medical workers, tribute to town council workers, tribute to law enforcement officers, Walter Nero Tribute to hero, Jessica Sandia Tribute to mothers, and the highly popular annual Christmas Village. From September 14 to 25, the team hosted the anniversary celebration of Rose Hall Town in conjunction with the Rose Hall Town Council. Among the 16 events hosted were the awarding of bursaries to six youths, while 16-year-old Marissa Siriram received a $250,000 University of Guyana (UG) scholarship.
The teams will be hosting a team of medical personnel from the USA on October 29 for a medical outreach and will also host their 13th annual Christmas Outreach programme from December 15 to 24.
NAMILCO Managing Director Bert Sukhai stated that his company was very pleased with the output of the team on and off the field. He noted that the company receives widespread media coverage and it has been a highly successful bond between the NAMILCO and the RHTY&SC. He urged the team to continue playing as a unit on the field while working hard off it to make a positive difference in the lives of others via the self- development programmes.
Foster and Sukhai also discussed NAMILCO’s support for the upcoming “Say No to drugs, alcohol, and suicide” campaign. The teams presented a unique piece of art done by Sean Bascom as a thank you gesture to the company.
Among the other players currently playing for the NAMILCO team are Jonathan Rampersaud, Matthew Pottaya Romesh Bharat, Jason Sinclair, Keith Simpson, Jeremy Sandia, Keon Sinclair and Rafael McKenzie.