BOUYED by their exemplary performance in both softball and hardball cricket, the Guyana Floodlights Softball Cricket Association (GFSCA) saw it possible to donate $250 000 to the four female cricketers who represented the West Indies lately. The quartet,  consisting of Shemaine Campbell, Tremayne Smartt, June Ogle-Thomas and Subrina Munroe (Munroe was missing due to work commitments), received the donation in the boardroom of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, whose Minister lauded the donors for their timely contribution.
“I have always said how wonderful it is when businesses invest in sports and this gesture here today is the perfect testament to such. The ability to get businesses to invest in sports is one of the items listed in the MCYS sports plan.”
Dr Anthony expressed his thanks to the GFSCA, an organisation that is made up of approximately 10 to 15 businessmen, who, according to their vice-president Ricky Deonarine, came together and accumulated the sum for the quartet.
“The MCYS has an interesting relationship with the GFSCA, as we have been working with them in organising and promoting matches even amongst the ministries and to my mind, they are doing a fantastic job in stimulating softball cricket,” added Dr Anthony.
In his brief remarks, Deonarine said the move to make the donation which they viewed as an appropriate one, stemmed from a visit to Crabwood Creek four years ago, where the GFSCA hosted a charity match.
“Four years ago, we held a fund-raising match for the Guyana Karate Federation (GKF) at the Malteenoes Sports Club (MSC) ground and six months after that, another fund-raiser at Crabwood Creek, and that’s where we encountered several females playing circle tennis.
A simple approach was made to them and when we returned to Crabwood Creek for another fund-raising activity, we were surprised to see female players being involved in the game – a sight that touched us all as they dropped their circle tennis racquets and picked up cricket bats,” stated Deonarine.
Deonarine, who is the managing director of 4R Bearings, congratulated the quartet on their sterling achievements and urged them to continue doing what they do best, which is to play cricket and make Guyana proud.
Ogle-Thomas, who plays for the Trophy Stall female team and also became the latest female to represent the West Indies following her selection to the team for the upcoming tour to India early next year, thanked the donors for their timely contribution while calling on other females to pick up the sport of cricket, whether it is softball or hardball.