Ram wins another term in office

Mar 20, 2011 Sports

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Incumbent President Christopher Ram was elected unopposed when the Guyana Tennis Association held its Annual General Meeting recently.
In a release from the Body, apart from Ram two more members were chosen to serve unopposed and they are chartered accountants Anita Rampersaud-Sawh and Ramesh Seebarran who were re-elected as Treasurer and Secretary respectively. The other two non-designated Executive slots were taken by Sandeep Chand and Duane Lopes who had served with distinction and enthusiasm as PRO and Assistant Secretary/Treasurer respectively.
Two new faces were elected to serve on the new Executive of the GTA, the national body administering the sport of tennis. They are Mr. Nigel Glasgow, Second Vice-President and Mr. Joe Rayyapen, the President of the Corriverton Tennis Club
Also, during the Meeting, a new constitution which came into effect on January 1, 2011 was adopted and among the new arrangement is that the term of the President will be limited to two years which will be reinforced by a structured arrangement that caters for succession planning with first and second Vice-Presidents.
Presenting the report for the Executive for the year 2010, Ram commended his colleagues on the Executive, noting that it would be hard to imagine the work that goes into the administration of an organisation where everyone is a volunteer, often with several competing demands for their time. He thanked those persons who had served on the 2010 Executive giving generously of their time and encouraged the new Executive to be prepared for more hard work.
Turning to its performance during 2010, Ram emphasised that the Executive needed to be its own harshest critic. He began his address by saying that the Executive would have liked to have done more – more tournaments, more entrants, more tours for both senior and junior categories, more tennis courts, more coaches and more officials, better execution of its plans and pointedly a better relationship with the Government, noting the lack of support given to the sport by the Government.
Ram reported that notwithstanding these deficiencies, the Association took some satisfaction in its achievements during 2010 and listed the following:
1. For the first time in the country’s history, Guyana has acquired its own Level 2 coaches following a training programme in Antigua;
2. The resuscitation of the Tennis Coaches Association which had been previously established in 2004;
3. The establishment of five new tennis clubs: Corriverton in Berbice, Le Ressouvenir, Dynamos, Nash and the Marian Academy Tennis Club, the first school member of the Association;
4. An active and packed Junior Program and the continuation of the ITF sponsored STI (School Tennis Initiative) program in primary schools designed to bring more talent from the grassroots level into the sport. Noting that results so far have been very encouraging, the Executive referred especially to the tremendous success of Corriverton Primary School which within months of adopting the program and has become a shining example for other schools. In total, there were 19 juniors and schools tournaments involving no less than 13 schools and catering to approximately 200 young persons. In this regard, the Executive commended Mr. Joe Rayappen of Berbice and the dedication of National Junior Coach Ms. Shelly Daly-Ramdyhan for their energy and commitment;
5. Participation in five regional tournaments: one each in Surinam, St Vincent and Curacao and two in Trinidad and Tobago, including the preliminary stages of the World Junior Tennis Championships.
6. Continuation of the Annual P&P Insurance Brokers Summer Camp and the Nigel’s Supermarket Junior Classic and the support by DeSinco Trading towards on-going junior development and training;
7. Five major tournaments: the ‘blue ribbon’ Pegasus and GBTI Open tournaments, a Veterans Tournament sponsored by Mings Products and Services Limited, an Open Doubles tournament sponsored by Trophy Stall, an Inter-Club Tournament run by the Association and a Novice tournament sponsored by the fast food outlet Popeyes. The Pegasus Open saw the end of the five-year reign of male tennis champion Philip Squires coming with the crowning of 19 yr old Jeremy Miller, a product of the Mini-Tennis and Performance Junior programs.
8. The selection of A and B National Squads run primarily by Shelly Daly-Ramdyhan and Ezra Sue-Ho
9. An Adult Camp conducted by the newly established Coaches Association in which more than twenty-five persons participated;
10. The inauguration of an annual health walk to encourage a healthy life style;
11. The signing of a Memorandum of Agreement with the National Parks Commission under which the GTA will rehabilitate and hopefully increase the number of courts at the Park and manage those facilities for the benefit of the sport. Ram noted the difficulty and five years it took to have a signed document. He expected the challenge of mobilizing the of funds to rehabilitate the facilities to be greater and once again appealed to the Government and Corporate Guyana without whose support it would be impossible to develop the sport;
12. The Executive singled out as an outstanding achievement for the construction of a new Tennis court at President’s College, compliments of Mr. Naeem Nasir, CEO of Nasir and Nasir. The drawings and technical supervision of the construction were provided by Rodrigues Architects Limited.
Ram stated and he wished to thank those who stayed the course namely, Sam Barakat, Gilbert Barckoy, Duane Lopes, Rawle Sue-Ho, Grace Mc Calman, (congratulations for receiving her award from the GOA),Anita Ramprasad-Sawh, Ramesh Seebarran and Sandeep Chand for their great sacrifice.
The junior committee performed well and his great hope is that players who performed well would seek scholarships. These players can advance their academic career through sport specifically tennis.
Two particularly satisfying events were achieved, the first being contributions made by Rodrigues Architects and Patterson and Associates towards the drafting and estimation of tennis facilities.
Secondly, under a provision in the recently passed Constitution, honorary memberships to the Association were given to Dr. Arthur Hazelwood, a benefactor from New York, Mr Naeem Nasir of Bakewell and the Guyana Pegasus for their contributions to the sport of tennis.

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