He was without his reindeer and red suit but like Santa Claus, Joseph `Reds’ Perreira founder of the `Reds’ Perreira Sports Foundation, yesterday promised the starving sports community of Guyana goodies for the new year.
Buoyed by a US$5000 donation from another regional `Santa’ Sir Allen Stanford, whose presents to regional cricketers run into millions of US dollars, and $100,000 from Bish Panday, Perreira, at a press conference held at Vic Insanally’s Guyenterprise offices in Queenstown, yesterday, reeled off a number of projects that will benefit the local sports fraternity come 2008.
The projects involve the visit of a National Basketball Association (NBA) coach, a leg spin clinic by Dinanath Ramnarine, two evenings of Nostalgia, the visit of a Trinidad national Chess master, and assistance for netball and horse racing.
The programme will swing into action as early as January 10 when Grenadian-born Fitzgerald `Naka’ Joseph, who is now a US-based basketball coach will visit Guyana for an 11-day stint during he will work with the local coaches.
The visit of Joseph has been co-ordinated by the `Reds’ Perreira Sports Foundation in collaboration with the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation, Perreira told the press conference.
Ramnarine, the former Trinidad and West Indies leg-spinner who is also head of the West Indies Players Association is expected to be in Guyana around the Easter week-end and Perreira said he has already had discussions with the Guyana Cricket Board.
He also suggested that regional record holder for the most wickets Mahendra Nagamootoo assist Ramnarine by “doing some follow-up work.”
Still on cricket Perreira said he was awaiting a response from former Guyana and West Indies speedster Colin Croft to do a fast bowling stint just prior to the tour of the West Indies by Sri Lanka.
He also plans, with permission from the Guyana Cricket Umpires Association (GCUA) and the International Cricket Council (ICC) to stage an umpires workshop/ seminar with Doug Cowie of the ICC. Perreira said he has already received sponsorship for the visit of a Trinidad Chess Master to conduct a simultaneous exhibition for approximately 30-40 young players.
This follows an earlier visit to Guyana by Barbadian Allan Herbert, chairman of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) Commission for Assistance to Chess Developing Countries who visited Guyana in June to assist in resurrecting the sport.
Regional netball official Annette Beckett of Barbados and Jamaican Chris Harmon will visit to help improve the administration of netball and horse racing respectively.
Beckett served as Caribbean and the Americas director on the board of the International Federation of Netball Associations (IFNA) and she is expected to be here on January 13 while Harmon, who Perreira said has extensive knowledge in horse racing, having worked at various tracks in Jamaica and the Santa Rosa track in Trinidad, will have talks with the local racing fraternity and minister responsible for Sport Dr. Frank Anthony in a attempt to establish a horse racing authority.
Perreira said the first of the two Evenings of Nostalgia will be held prior to the Sri Lanka/West Indies test match and the other in November of next year, when DR. George De Peana and Ian Mc Donald will be the honourees.
