Meet the multi-talented Sporting Prodigy, Tyler Orderson

Dec 25, 2014 Sports

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Any child who laces up a pair of football shoes or picks up a basketball at a neighbourhood playground has dreams of ultimate glory. A very rare few show elite skill level in their early years and even fewer are able to develop their prodigious talent to the maximum, breaking world records or hitting the Olympic or professional ranks.
But for Tyler Enrique Orderson, a 10 year-old who attends the Marian Academy and who has displayed outstanding talent and ability from the sporting arena to the classroom in his academic pursuits it has been more than just a dream, as he has been among those few to realize his dreams of distinction.
His exceptional ability with the martial art of Karate-do, was spotted when he was just five years old, one year after he started training. Three and a half years after he began training, he became the youngest Shodan (black belt) not just in Guyana or the Caribbean, but across the world in Shotokan Karate amongst all the countries globally that are governed by the world karate organization the International Karate Daigaku. Two years later at age nine, Orderson again broke another world record, this time becoming the youngest Shototkan Karateka globally to earn the rank of Nidan or second degree black belt ranking. He now has another two years to do a three-peat by going for the Sandan ranking or the third degree black belt.
The talented Orderson who has represented Guyana successfully at several international tournaments including the World Championships in Canada, the Caribbean Karate Championships and the South American Cup winning many gold, silver and bronze medals, confirmed that to get to the top in the sport of karate it took countless hours of hard work, a fierce desire to be the best, and dedication to achieving one’s goals.
He confirmed that there are no shortcuts to greatness while conceding that some people start out with a definite advantage. He was also quick to point out that it was not just about organized training practice, but also about having fun.
But as impressive as this young Karateka’s story is, unlike the growing emphasis on performance and specialization that has invaded many youth sports, Orderson is not one to be corralled into one highly focused sports programme, but rather takes every opportunity to sample a wide array of athletic pursuits which he believes provides a better recipe for success.
The confident believes that hours spent training is just one aspect of an athlete’s development; and that motivation is just as important. He does not want to become one of those youths, who after completing many hours of concentrated training by age 12 or 13 in his case in Karate-do, to start to lose interest or burning out.
Injury is another concern he has as studies have found that injuries occur more commonly among athletes who do specialized training in one sports discipline. Orderson’s exceptional natural athletic ability and love for sports generally has caused him to ignore calls to just focus on Karate-do which he has earned much fame and eminence as he is convinced that early specialization will cut short this period as a young athlete to sample a wide variety of sports and thus robbing him of the opportunity to stumble upon his best fit.
His belief that he is more intrinsically motivated in sports in general and in a specific sport has led him to becoming a member of the Park Players Tennis Club, where his Coach Shelly Daly-Ramdyhan sees significant natural skill and ability in him and who has indicated her confidence that should he dedicate more time to tennis training that he would achieve great things.
Orderson has also taken up seriously the sport of soccer at his school the Marian Academy under the watchful eyes of its Head Coach Denis ‘Chow’ Hunte. He loves watching great teams and players and he loves to emulate them, In fact his favorite player is Lionel Messi from Argentina who also plays for Barcelona.
Coach Hunte who sees considerable talent and determination in Tyler, lets him stay back after the normal practice time with his peers, and allows him to train with the seniors that are from the High School. He is said be “so small, so fast and so elegant” and feels quite at home training with the bigger boys.
Tyler has also over the last year become involved in the sport discipline of basketball working out with some of friends under the guidance of their sports administrator and Basketball Coach Chris Bowman, is also a part of the ‘Youth Basketball Guyana’ that is being coached by Lugard Mohan who is the Director of Coaching and Officiating of YBG.
As Youth Basketball Guyana brought down the curtains on the 2014 school basketball season with the fourth edition of the Titan Bowl-best of the best school basketball Championships recently, in the exciting Mini Basketball game, Tyler scored the second highest points to help his team to secure victory over their opponents.
He credited his ball handling skills, dribbling ability improved free throws and jumpers in this most recent game to the hard work of his coaches who make it all fun whilst teaching them serious stuff.
Tyler believes that there is need to change the culture of sports if young sports personalities are to reach their potential and retain a life-long enjoyment of sports, to one that creates an environment that de-emphasizes winning and puts a more of a premium on enjoyment as he does.

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