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Sports will no longer be enjoyable on the beaches
Aug 22, 2012 Sports
Dear Editor,
I grew up playing and enjoying cricket on the beach. There is where the unofficial test matches were held and where we also learned to swim.
The modern venues now have swimming pools. It is quite sad indeed that these past times no longer are possible due to environmental issues relating to climate change.
The beaches are now used to grow mangrove trees so as to protect the residents from the threatening high seas.
The mangroves will now be host to mosquitoes and crabs. While it is obvious that it is necessary, the joy that these beaches provided will be sadly missed.
Just imagine striking a softball on the beach and the nostalgia of a Rohan Kanhai appears, as the ball will whistle with Bolt-like speed on the thinly compact sand that will stretch for more than five miles.
We always had to have a bicycle around for relief when retrieving the ball from such a distance.
When we had used up the sand and it was time for the tumbling waves to reign, it was more fun riding the waves and sea diving.
The Henrietta seawall was a hive of activity and was a popular site for the residents to go and enjoy the chilling atmosphere. It was where I had also learnt to switch-hit (turning around to bat from left to right) since hitting the ball over the wall was prohibited.
The stroke has become popular with its advent by Kevin Pieterson and Shivnarine Chanderpaul (Chanderpaul knows about beaches).
Today the site reflects vegetation and it may now even be a hunting ground for criminal activities following the emergence of these huge trees.
Several residents live just next to the seawall and in fact only recently a liquor restaurant was robbed. I cannot think of another suitable venue for kids who love adventure and nature’s cruel beauty.
The Henrietta beach was a fantastically sumptuous site for sports and even economic means since the fishing boats were moored there with their live catches of a variety of fishes and shrimp.
The memories are enormous as the beach will remain an indelible feature of many residents’ childhood recreational formation. In fact the monumental space will also be remembered for the rare sights of whales, sea cows, manatees and numerous unknown breed of fishes.
A new chapter has now emerged and the kids will now have to find other open areas to explore. This environmental dispensation is occurring throughout the length of the sea beds on the Essequibo Coast and therefore sports will soon become extinct on the beaches.
Elroy Stephney
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