Gelvandale club gets R300 000 boost
GELVANDALE Cricket Club received a major shot in the arm with a R300 000 sponsorship by BLG Logistics revealed at the weekend.
Speaking at the club’s 40th anniversary gala dinner on Saturday night, president Gary Dolley said they had tied up a threeyear deal with the logistics company.
“A lot of hard work went into planning this event but, without the support of our sponsors, none of this would have been possible,” Dolley said.
He said with the club doing well over the last 40 years, it was now ready to look to the future, and build a strong relationship, not only with BLG, but also with the communities they serve.
“Excellence is what we strive for, and there is a very close balance between excellence and outreach,” Dolley said.
“I think, with this kind of holistic partnership, we are on the right track.”
He said community-based clubs could learn a great deal from business principles and how they could be incorporated into running of the clubs, something Dolley was keen to learn more about.
Gelvandale Cricket Club graduate Ashwell Prince said he was proud to be associated with the club.
Prince, 40, was the guest speaker at the event held at the Fairview Sports Complex. “It’s a brilliant feeling to be part of the club’s history,” the former Proteas batsman said.
“Before I started playing, I watched my father and brothers play, so I was involved at a very early age.”
Prince said there were many highlights for him at the club, with one in particular standing out.
He recalled being able to share a dressing room with, among others, West Indian player Eldine Baptiste, who was a major influence on his career and that of other young players at the time.
“We had the likes of Mr [Claude] Simon, the Dolley brothers and many other legends who taught us so much, but it was a big thing for me to see a professional player going about his business.
“I was just entering the EP junior set up, and I would see him there,” Prince said.
“At weekends he would play at the club. He taught us a lot about the game and how it should be played.”
Prince said that local heroes like Desmond “Bravo” Jacobs, Chris “Ouman” Camealio and Patrick “Lords” Gallant needed to be put on a pedestal so that the younger generation had heroes from their communities they could look up to.
“I think players from past generations need to be recognised for the contributions made,” Prince said.
“Doing so gives youngsters the opportunity to learn about the game from people who have been there and know what they are talking about.”
Prince said the sponsorship announcement was very encouraging and he hoped the team would continue to do great work in producing top-class cricketers.
“While the path to the top might be easy for some, it does not compare to the battle of life,” he said.
BLG Logistics national operations manager Paul Gerber hoped the partnership would assist in the development of more young players coming not only from the Gelvandale area, but also from other parts of the city, regardless of their circumstances.