Rampaul honours grandad with cricket clinic

Vinode Mamchan
Published by guardian.co.tt

Showing them how it is done. Here Rampaul has the attention of members of the Seecharan Bhajan Cricket Coaching Clinic.

West Indies and T&T fast bowler Ravi Rampaul recently launched a cricket clinic in honour of his grandfather Seecharan Bhajan in the village of Preysal, known for bringing to the fore many talented T&T and West Indies players. Rampaul who hails from San Francisco Village in Preysal was thrilled to see the work done on the playing field there and on Tuesday night, they got the lights switched on by T&TEC which will serve as a major boost to the camp.

Rampaul remembering his grandfather said: “My grandad always helped young cricketers in the Preysal area. He had some sons playing cricket as well and he wanted to ensure that many people as possible got an opportunity to play the game in this area. He spent his own money in getting cricket equipment for the young ones back and then and it helped all of us who decided to make cricket a career down here.”

The Barbados Tridents player is very proud of the work done thus far during the month and a half long cricket camp. “We started with 24 kids and now we are up to 30, including two girls, which of course we welcome. The camp will be a continuous one and when school opens we will cut down on the hours to allow the kids to focus on their academics.”

At present there are four coaches involved in the camp, giving voluntary service and they included Rampaul himself, well known Ministry of Sport coach Pradeep Vishnu, Ravi Ramdial and Chabilal Naipaul.

When T&T Guardian visited the facility at San Francisco the kids were very enthusiastic and a number of villagers were at the ground giving support. Those who made time to be around the kids included West Indies Test captain Denesh Ramdin. The wicketkeeper/batsman and Rampaul also had the ground named after them in San Francisco.

Rampaul intends to take the youths forward with him :”We are interested in giving back and assisting the young people of Preysal. The kids coming here are not charged for anything. I have sponsored some stuff and the parents have also chipped in with food and drink. It is a community affair that I am spearheading in the name of my grandad and it has caught on really well.”

The youngsters have already tasted success as they won their first ever competitive clash against Munroe Road recently. “Robert Mahabir has some kids up at Munroe Road and we played them and our boys defeated them. We have a lot of good talent at the youth level here and we are very encouraged by what we are seeing.”

Rampaul added that the clinic will take the kids around the country getting the experience of playing all over. “This clinic is to basically travel around Trinidad and play other games at different venues. It is all part of the building process for them and we are excited about this.

“I got in contact with Samuel Badree and his camp has come to an end, so we are looking to go down and play his team. Darren Bravo’s camp just recently finished at Santa Cruz and we are looking for a match against them as well. I will use the connections I have around the country to assist the young cricketers here by getting them the exposure of playing against a lot of teams.”

The right arm pacer said he gets a lot of satisfaction just being around the kids.