Player to watch - Aderemi Simon (Old Fort, Guyana)

Player to watch – Aderemi Simon (Old Fort, Guyana)

Nov 29, 2009 Sports

Old Fort’s Aderemi Simon poses with a friend for Kaieteur Sport at the last Caribbean Championships which was held in Trinidad and Tobago.

Aderemi ‘Dove’ Simon’s wiry stature and quiet demeanour seems to contradict his status as leader of the Old Fort side where he controls both the attack and defence.
It was Simon who scored the spectacular winning goal for Guyana at its most recent international outing to wrest the Bronze medal from Jamaica in the Caribbean Championships with a blinding back-door cut and diving finish to deflect the ball into the net.
Like a silent assassin, he is most dangerous after being inconspicuous, but opponents better beware as his sudden turn of pace and ability to control the ball at top speed is matched by none on the local scene.
This coupled with one of the fastest flicks in the game makes him a regular member of the highest goal-scorer list in every competition.
A regular recipient of Most Valuable Player accolades in local competition, he received the prestigious honour in the Diamond Mineral Water International Festival in 2005. Spectators at this year’s festival are sure to be treated to something special from Simon which may include one of the fastest drag-beats in the game where he feints the defender one way then in a split second is 4 yards away on the other side on his way to the net.
Simon is a product of the unofficial bottom house training school in South Ruimveldt that produced many of Guyana’s top national players in the past and spawned the Old Fort hockey club.
Although he first picked up a stick at 10 years old and showed great promise from the beginning, Guyana’s absence from International competition would rob international audiences of seeing him in action until more than a decade later.
In 2007, Simon finally wore the national colours in his superb performances at the Alba Games and Caribbean Championships where he helped Guyana along to silver and bronze medals respectively.
He is obviously the player to watch at the upcoming Diamond Mineral Water International Indoor Hockey Festival which bully’s-off from December 3-6, at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.