Aunty Romy’s guiding hand
Bowl me over… but it’s not every day that a science teacher lays the foundation for one of the Dolphins’ rising stars, writes Renelle Naidoo
FOR nearly three decades physical education specialist Romy Naidoo has been changing the lives of budding young cricketers through mini cricket and schools cricket at regional and provincial levels.
Naidoo, head of science and sport at Trenance Park Primary School, added another achievement to her long and impressive list of accolades when she was awarded the KFC Mini Cricket coach of the month award last month.
The award recognises the hard work and dedication of an individual in the volunteer coaches programme.
“I was ecstatic to hear that I won this award and it means a great deal to me. I just hope it is motivation for other teachers to come on board and help me take the mini cricket programme to the next level.”
Adding to a long list of accolades, the Verulam mother of two currently manages the KZN women’s cricket team and the Verulam women’s cricket team, is the schools cricket coordinator in Verulam and serves as the deputy president of women’s cricket at the KZN Cricket Union.
Such is the response to her efforts that her pupils fondly call her “Aunty Romy”.
The self-confessed sports fanatic celebrates her 50th birthday on Thursday.
Looking back at how it all started, Naidoo recalled how the sport piqued her interest in the early 1980s.
“Back then cricket was a male-dominated sport, but I was so intrigued by the game that I started learning about the facets of cricket through coaching and teaching. As I learnt more, my love for the game increased so much. It has become a lifestyle, not just for me, but for my family.”
Personal awards and achievements aside, Naidoo said her greatest reward was watching young boys and girls achieving at higher levels.
“Over the years I’ve seen so many kids go on to reach their dreams and there really can be no greater reward watching kids from junior levels excel and move beyond school boundaries to become household names at provincial and national level.
“Through our programmes we feed their passion, nurture their skills and prepare them for the more competitive levels and structures in cricket.”
She recalled one of the successes of the programme.
“Prenalin Subrayen was just eight years old when I met him, but I could tell that he had great potential. I sent him to a programme with older boys to ensure that he had tougher competition and today Prenalin is with the Dolphins and has also captained the SA Under-19 team.”
Cricket certainly comes across as her number one passion, but Naidoo has also served on the Verulam Sports and Recreation executive council as well as on the Core Committee for women in sport in eThekwini, which entails working with sports federations to ensure the smooth running of sport in junior and senior structures.
“I have been the head of many codes of sport in the past including volleyball, netball, soccer, hockey, gymnastics, athletics, chess, cross country and drum majorettes. And I’m proud to say that I also achieved outstanding results in managing and coaching which led to pupils achieving provincial, national and international colours.”
Her husband Kenny, daughter Chanté and foster son Khulekani share her passion for cricket. “Chanté and Khulekani both play cricket and Kenny has always been very supportive of whatever goal I set my mind to.”
A passionate supporter of the Proteas, Naidoo said she and her family thoroughly enjoy watching the IPL. She says Hashim Amla and Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga are her favourite cricketers.
There are nearly 6 000 volunteer coaches in the mini cricket programme who give their time to ensure that 85 000 children from 3 500 schools can be coached all year round.
Cricket South Africa has now expanded the programme to include pre-schoolers and differently-abled children and has also increased the age group for girls to include 13year-olds.