CHIEF Executive Officer (CEO) of Ansa McAl Limited and ardent cricket enthusiast Beverley Harper was yesterday inducted as the fourth Patron of Guyana’s leading youth and sports club, the striving Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club (RHTYSC), following in the footsteps of late President Hugh Desmond Hoyte, Peter Ramsaroop and the 80-year-old June Mendes.
At a simple induction ceremony held in the boardroom of Harper’s Beterverwagting business location, CEO of RHTYSC, Hilbert Foster, said his club’s main aim is to promote sports as an alternative to a life on the road.
“The rich legacy continues. That was the headline in last Sunday’s Kaieteur Newspaper and it was a fitting tribute to a club that was founded by the St Francis Community Developer, as a simple organisation with the aim of promoting sports as an alternative to a life on the road.
“Twenty-one years later, the club has developed into Guyana’s leading youth and sport, Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) and is now a household name in Guyana and further afield, while it continues to be unmatched by any other institution of similar nature in Guyana,” said Foster.
The 2009 Sports Personality-of-the-Year winner said the club has touched and changed the lives of thousands of people and would continue to do so in the future.
“Many people have wondered why we have been successful when others have failed and one man went so far to say in the newspaper that when you sell a product well, it would sell. But what this confused gentleman failed to recognise, is no product would be sold if it is bad.”
Foster told his audience which included former Guyana and West Indies middle order batsman and Honorary Member of RHTYSC, Basil Butcher, Harper accepted the position of Club Patron in her capacity as an ardent cricket enthusiast.
Former President Hoyte served as the club’s first Patron in 1991 and was followed by Ramsaroop and Mendes, with the latter resigning from the position due to ill health, hence Harper’s induction yesterday.
“We at the RHTYSC were blessed to have the services of the three outstanding Guyanese to serve in the honorary position of Patron, as they were all perfect role models to our members and while we are inducting Ms Harper as our fourth Patron, it must be noted that her choice was supported by all the members of the club,” stated Foster.
Foster said the position of Patron is a honorary one, where the person serves as a role model and also adviser to any club member who may have strayed away, while  assisting elected executive to maintain a positive public image and he believes Harper would make the members of RHTYSC proud.
In her acceptance speech, Harper said she felt honoured to be associated with the club which has been a shining example of how cricket administrators should execute their duties, especially in Guyana’s cricket which is presently undergoing its worst phase.
And while she took the time to express her saddened feelings at the death of Guyana’s international umpire Clyde Duncan, Harper told her audience that her hope is to fulfil the expectations of the RHTYSC while executing her duties as Patron.
Meanwhile, Foster disclosed that Ansa McAl Group of Companies would be sponsoring a T20 tournament involving RHTYSC and two other clubs in Guyana to the tune of $250 000, saying same would be played as soon as the weather holds in the Ancient County.