Nicola Ramdyhan copped the top female senior and junior awards while Anthony Downes won the senior men and Jordan Beaton the junior boys’ award when the Guyana Tennis Association held its annual awards ceremony Friday night at the Georgetown Club.
It was the first senior female player of the year award for Ramdyhan and
second junior title while for Downes it was his second such award and first for Beaton.
Also receiving an award Friday night was Bish Panday of P&P Insurance Brokers Company who received a Certificate of Appreciation for his 10 years of sponsorship of Guyana’s largest tennis camp for children.
There were also two donations. The Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) gave an undisclosed financial contribution to the GTA towards its development while Gavin Lewis, who departs shortly to commence his tennis scholarship at Coppin State University in Maryland, USA, received a financial donation from the GTA.
Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony said he was impressed with the work of the GTA adding that he wished to see more collaboration among sports associations so that administrative expertise can be shared.
The minister disclosed that in the near future he will be seeking to develop the National Racquet Centre by building more tennis courts and setting up lighting infrastructure.
President of the GTA, Grace McCalman, in her address to the gathering, reflected on the last decade of tennis.
“Way back in 2003, after a few years of being defunct, there were several articles in the paper such as ‘Action needed to save tennis from sudden death’”.
“Being an avid player at the time, I remember developing an interest and collaborating with Colin Sawh, Rawle Sue-Ho and Jolyon Williams to prepare accounts for four years to help spearhead activities for an Interim Committee to set up for an AGM. I remember going door-to-door with 100 letters. The Interim Committee eventually comprised Dr. Joseph Haynes, Roy Rampersaud, Fitz McLean, Suresh Singh and myself,” she told the gathering.
“Ten years later we can now say that the GTA has stood its ground and maintained a professional approach and commitment towards steady progress for the development of tennis in Guyana despite our apparent chronic limitation with facilities.”
She also thanked the sponsors and the tennis community for their support throughout.
“It is you the sponsors and parents and community support who really make such special events possible. In this regard, I do hope that there comes an opportunity where we can present the bigger picture of tennis in Guyana prior to these recent times. The period when tennis champions and stalwarts such as Mr. Ian McDonald reigned as the only Caribbean player to participate at Wimbledon. This will be good for the young players coming up to understand where we need to be in the sport but more importantly that we have the potential to be,” she declared.
McCalman also addressed the challenges ahead.
“Despite our modest track record in winning tennis on the international scene, the GTA has realised a healthy local tennis environment where several children are able to start their tennis experience through their Primary School Physical Education programme and at tennis camps each year.
“Once sustained, this medium creates the pathway for young players with talent to enter the sport through competition rather than affordability, a feature that makes Guyana stand out in the region. In this regard, it has been felt that juniors seem to get all the attention but being the secretary for nine years and always picking up the slack in the absence of a junior chairperson, I personally ensured that Shelly (Daly-Ramdyhan) was given all the support she needed to run junior competitions so that we can remain favourable in the eyes of the ITF and receive our annual quota of free equipment for the school programmes to continue. We have tried several times to bring someone on board to invigorate senior player development, but the core heartfelt enthusiasm has not been there,” she added.
According to McCalman in 2014 the GTA held fewer than normal tournaments, mainly because of rain in the early part of the year and in the latter part, preparation for the Inter Guiana Games.
She also said that the GTA lost a few but significant executive members for various reasons.
She extended her deepest gratitude on behalf of the GTA to the sponsors and supporters.
“At this time it is significant to mention Mr. Bish Panday, CEO of P&P Insurance Brokers who has been the sponsor for one of the largest children sports camps in Guyana, the P&P Tennis Camp. More recently Mr. John Tracey, CEO of GBTI, Mr. Sam Barakat, CEO of ECI and Mr. Harry Panday, owner of the famous chain of stores all of whom have gone above and beyond to provide quality lighted facilities to help us conduct proper competitive activities. The New Guyana School under the Chairmanship of Alphonso De Armas has allowed us to conduct Inter School competitions at their spanking new facilities. The GBTI Open has also evolved as the premier highest valued Open tournament that also attracts novice adult players. And to the sponsors of the IGG 2014, you have given us the chance to prove that we are capable of hosting international tournaments.”
McCalman said the GTA’s plan for the new year includes primarily persistent effort to have better facilities while another critical area is enhanced coaching.
