Fifteen persons received the Dolphin Award of Excellence as the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club held its 31st awards ceremony yesterday.
A simple ceremony was held at the St. Francis Community Developers auditorium where a moment of silence for the late Vic Persaud starting off the ceremony.
The first order of business was the introduction of Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jnr., who was sworn in as the sixth patron of the Club as well as one of the Dolphin Award recipients. Both of Ramson’s parents, Charles Snr., and Leila Ramson, received the prestigious award.
Also receiving the award were Guyana Jaguars’ head coach, Esuan Crandon, Stabroek Sports’ Romario Samaroo, Brandon Corlette, E.T. Dharry, Fiazal Jaferally, Navindra Persaud, Dr. Cecil Beharry, Dr. Ghansham Sukdeo, Inspector Sonia Ward, Anasha Ally and the late Terry Holder.
Special recognition went to Kevin Sinclair who became the latest player from the club to represent the West Indies, making his debut in the recent T20 home series against Sri Lanka and Kevlon Anderson who represented West Indies under-19 at the last Youth World Cup in South Africa.
Chief Executive Officer of the club, Hilbert Foster, in his report said that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was curtailed to a fraction of what it would normally be and was preceded by several mini ceremonies to recognize the work of outstanding people throughout both 2020 and the first quarter of 2021.
Foster spoke at length on the admirable work the club had done since its establishment back in September 20, 1990. Since then, the club has won 101 tournaments having come off a 17-match losing streak to begin their introduction as a club in the ancient county.
Aiding the fight against COVID-19, the club has donated over 10,000 food hampers, over 1000 pounds of chicken, sanitizers and cleaning detergents.
The high standards of the club was exemplified with its longstanding partnership with its sponsors, some of which are Bakewell, Farfan and Mendes, Poonai, Namilco and others.
Off the field, the club has spearheaded hundreds of social work including assisting a 90-year-old rape victim with renovation of her house and the installation of lights and supplying of groceries.
Additionally, Simon Naidu received the worker of the year award while Kevin Ramnarine and Mariam Samaroo were awarded for their discipline throughout the year.
Meanwhile, some 24 persons were bestowed with the Zinth award which is the second highest award the club offers. Those recipients were Lucy Pike, Joyce Roberts, Mavinesh Persaud, Gregory Rambarran, Navin Raghoo, Patrick Lewis, Tyrone Pottaya, Ravindranauth Kissoonlall, Leon Wiggins, Dawn Hicks, Bridgette McDonald, Terry Pike, Erva Giddings, Mark Papannah, Franklyn Ross, Joel Pike, Pamela Brush, Elizabeth Brush, Ashton Hendrax, Eroll Hendrax, Keith Hicks, Sohan Harry, Neville Beaton and Naidu.
Promising players awards went to Keith Simpson, Sylus Tyndall, Junior Sinclair, Jonathan Rampersaud, Chandrapaul Govindan, Jeremy Sandiha, Matthew Pottaya, Christopher Deroop and Oma Mattadin.
Several players from various clubs received bicycles while Noah Arokium was given a cash grant to open a bank account in order to encourage youngsters to save. Minister Ramson Jnr., during his hour-long feature address, urged the gathering to take advantage of the government’s GOAL scholarship programme. He also informed them that there are plans in place to have a financial grant for young business owners.
