LAST year September, the National Milling Company Co. Ltd (NAMILCO) came on board as the official sponsor of the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club (RHTYSC) first division team; fast forward a year later and the two entities celebrate their special relationship. NAMILCO, replaced long-time sponsors Gizmos and Gadgets as the main sponsor, making the anniversary and the achievements over that period of time highly valuable.

It also cemented Rose Hall Town-Namilco Thunderbolt Flour’s team as one of the country’s leading cricket teams with an unmatched  list of achievements on and off the cricket field.

Club Secretary/CEO, Hilbert Foster, stated that NAMILCO has been a strong supporter of the first division team and also the U-21 team which it also sponsors.

On the cricket field, the Rose Hall Town-Namilco Thunderbolt Flour First Division team won three different  tournaments under the sponsorship and reached one semi-finals before the Covid-19 pandemic stopped the active Berbice cricket season.

The team won the Busta Champion of Champions 40 overs tournament, the Ivan Madray Memorial 20/20 and the Sky Vodka 50 overs tournaments. The team has also qualified for the semi-finals of the historic Banks Beer First Division two-day tournament, finishing second behind arch-rivals, Albion Cricket Club in Zone B.

They were scheduled to play Young Warriors CC in the semifinals but have been unable to do so due to the pandemic. The Rose Hall Town-Namilco Thunderbolt Flour Under-21 team is also waiting to play Albion in the finals of the Berbice Cricket Board Elizabeth Styles tournament.

The two teams have also produced several players who have gone on to represent Berbice, Guyana and even the West Indies. Matthew Pottaya, Christopher Deroop, Jonathan Rampersaud, Nyron Hicks, Mahendra Gopilall and Jeremy Sandia represented Berbice at the junior levels.

At the senior level, Clinton Pestano and Kevin Sinclair played for Guyana while Assad Fudadin turned out for the Jamaica Scorpions franchise. Kevin Sinclair also played for the West Indies emerging team that won the Cricket West Indies 50 overs tournament and then went on to be a sensation for the Guyana Amazon Warriors 20/20 team in the Caribbean Premier League.

Three of the female players: Shemaine Campbelle, Sheneta Grimmond and Shabika Gajnabi also represented the West Indies on a regular basis. Off the cricket field, the Namilco Thunderbolt Flour U-21 and First Division teams hosted over 70 community development programmes as part of their personal development project. These include the Youth Information Booklet, Namilco Tribute to Law Enforcement Officers, Namilco Tribute to Medical Personnel Programmes, Gregory Gaskin Berbice Sports Awards among other notable projects.

Other programmes include assisting over one hundred youth cricketers with their gears and distribution of six thousand food hampers under the Basil Butcher Trust Fund.

Over $1M worth of chicken products, facemasks, sanitizers and cleaning detergents were shared out as part of the Covid-19 response while donations of vital items were also made to hospitals, post offices, police stations and NDC/Town Councils. Donations were also made to several persons whose houses were either destroyed by fire or fell down. Additionally, the team also co-produced the RHTYSC 30th Anniversary magazine and co-organise numerous activities to mark the historic anniversary.

Foster hailed the relationship between the company and Namilco, noting that the company, for over two decades, has been very supportive of the club. Namilco, on an annual basis, supports the RHTYSC by co-sponsoring its Christmas Village, award ceremony, cricket academy, review magazine, Say No/ Say Yes campaign among other programmes.

The club and Namilco, in 2019, had come together to organise a highly successful Day of Sports at the Albion Sports Complex for the company’s 50th anniversary. The event was a huge success with RHTYSC members, several volleyball clubs and students from twenty primary and secondary schools participating in cricket, volleyball and athletic events for attractive prizes.

The Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) president hailed the cooperation of the Management of the company with special mention made of Managing Director, Bert Sukhai; Assistant to the Managing Director, Autamaram Lakeram; Finance Controller, Fitzroy Mc Leoud; Human Resources Manager, Michelle Majors and Jamie Shultz.