BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, February 7, 2020 (MMS-SKN) — The Cayon High School Falcon cricketers are performing at a higher level both on the local and regional stage and School Principal, Mr Francil Morris, is attributing the success to an exceptional tripartite collaboration.
“What is happening is that we have a tripartite collaboration – the school, the home, and the community,” said Principal Morris. “The parents are extremely supportive; additionally the teachers as well are extremely supportive. For example Mr Manners, who is responsible for cricket here at the school, spends a lot of time with them on the cricket field and even outside to make sure that they are up date with their work.”
When on Monday December 9 last year the St. Kitts Cricket Association Under-15 team left for Antigua to take part in the Leeward Islands Under-15 tournament, five of those players were from the Cayon High School. These were Déantre Drew who was the overall captain, Rondell Williams who was the vice-captain, Ronvyl Williams, Kejorn Wattley, and Viquone Connor.
At the end of the Leeward Islands Under-15 Cricket tournament, FOUR of the five Cayon High School Falcon cricketers were named as players on the Leeward Islands Under-15 Provisional Squad 2020 that will take part in the 2020 Cricket West Indies Tournament, also to be held in Antigua, in the period April 9 to April 20.
The St. Kitts Cricket Association Under-17 team left for Antigua on Saturday December 14 and while on paper nine of those players were from the Cayon High School, only seven were on the trip as two, Deantre Drew and Rondell Williams, were already in Antigua since they were also on the Under-15 team.
Those leaving with the rest of the Under-17 team were: Cody Lowry, Tijuana Stevens, David Cannonier, Kazim Archibald, Kishawn Fahie, Shomar Cumberbatch, and Ronald Williams. At the end of the tournament, Ronald Williams, was named as reserve on the Leeward Islands Under-17 team for the 2020 Cricket West Indies Tournament.
“I am very pleased that these students are coping both with their academics and with the sport that they are involved in,” said Mr Francil Morris. “Most of them are in the top tier in the forms, so they are in the A1 class and they are maintaining grade level standards in all their subject areas. They are able to have a good balance in terms of how they balance their academics and the sport of cricket.”
Principal Morris also pointed out to the fact that the Cayon High School Falcon cricketers have leadership qualities taking into account that Déantre Drew is the St. Kitts Cricket Association Under-15 Captain, while Rondell Williams is the vice-captain.
Teacher with responsibility for cricket at the Cayon High School, Mr Mikal Manners, noted that the players were very motivated and passionate about the game of cricket even before they came to the Cayon High School. He said parental involvement also plays a great part attributing it to the success of the Williams brothers, two who are on the Leeward Islands Under-15 cricket team, and one as a reserve on the Leeward Islands Under-17 cricket team.
“We find that Phillips, Bourryeau, and Molineux area has a strong cricketing culture and Lodge to an extent as well,” observed Mr Manners. “A lot of our players come from that area. In the past we had a lot of players from Cayon and Saddlers, but the majority now come from Bourryeau, Molineux and Phillips.”