By Michel Outridge

NARESH Samaroo is the postmaster for Cane Grove Post Office but he and his staff also promote sports in the community.

Samaroo is a senior member of the Cane Grove Sports Club, which has been in existence for two years; following a fade away, the club was resuscitated.

He related that the sports club has about 45 members from ages 19 to 27 years old and they have an active cricket team.

Younger cricketer, Hemraj Chanderpaul, who hails from Strathoven, Mahaica, would liaise with their cricket club to encourage the others to participate.

Samaroo disclosed that all is not well with the Cane Grove Sports Club because they don’t have a building, plus there is no washroom or seating area.

“We make do with what we have, but these facilities are needed in the promotion of sports here in Cane Grove, Mahaica and we are working with the NDC to maintain the ground, the outfield and the general maintenance of the playground,” he said.

He related that their playground is at Coconut Dam and they usually have cricket matches with other teams and often when they invite others to the village, there is no seating accommodation.

But on another note, due to the pandemic, the East Coast Cricket Association has cancelled all matches until further notice.

Samaroo stated that the Cane Grove club plays mostly hardball cricket and they have won many matches but they are still growing.

“We would borrow weeding machines to weed the ground because we don’t have our own but the people of the community is cooperative as such, we get things done through self-help,” he said.

Samaroo noted that all players have their own gear and they would garner funds for the sports club through fund-raising activities.

The Treasurer Munishwar Sancharra told the Pepperpot Magazine that the sports club funds are rarely used and they would do barbeque and other activities to ensure they have money for the team.

Munishwar, a postman, reported that he also plays for the Cane Grove Sports Club and would like to see the development of sports in that village.

Teasha Houston, who is a postal employee as well, is captain of the female cricket team and she is also the winner of the Guyana Cup Softball teamThe .

The history of Cane Grove
The postmaster disclosed that Cane Grove was once a sugar estate with mostly Indo and Afro indentured slaves were used as workers.

He reported that they later moved from sugar to a rice plantation and today a large number of residents still depend heavily on rice and cash crops as their main sources of incomes in the village.

Samaroo noted that they have small to large-scale rice farmers in Cane Grove and they all sell their rice to the A.Kayum Hakh and Sons Rice Mill which is in the community.

He said the village has about 5,000 residents and it is a nice place to raise a family and have a stable lifestyle.