Rostan humbled by inaugural Ross Cup

ROSTAN MAHABIR, who was shot in May on his way to work in San Fernando, has described it as a humbling experience for the inaugural Republic Bank Ross Cup to be named after him. The cricket tournament, organised by alumni of Mahabir’s alma mater Hillview College, bowled off in November and ended on December 5 at the Sir Frank Worrel Cricket ground, UWI, St Augustine.

Mahabir, a Scotiabank employee, had parked his vehicle in the Scotia car park opposite City Hall and was walking to his workplace when a bandit tried to grab his computer bag. Mahabir struggled with the bandit who pulled out a gun and shot him in the stomach.

This incident stunned the Hillview College alumni who rallied in support of Mahabir as he slowly improved over the months after initally being in critical condition in hospital.

The former students of Hillview College worked closely with the alumni of Fatima College, Presentation College, Chaguanas and Queen’s Royal College to develop the Ross Cup. The Cup is aimed at using cricket to stimulate community development, social work, sport development, academic research and providing avenues for women in sport.

Mahabir said, “It’s an extreme honour for any competition to be named after you. The inspiration has been based primarily on the shooting incident. This tournament has been created to help highlight these issues in TT and utilize sport to foster strong community networks in order to try to avoid these situations in future. I cannot be more humbled that my name might be used in order to have such a positive impact and I hope that this competition remains a constant in our society for years to come.”

He continued, “We need this kind of togetherness. The small acts of kindness is what will set us apart and help us to become a better society...Society has been full of such fear lately. Most people now are afraid to go out after dark, for fear of being robbed or worse. A lot of people have been victims in their own homes. It has been a terrifying time for people, and a lot people feel like there is not a lot of hope anymore. However, we ourselves have to come together in order to try to make that difference. We have to keep highlighting these issues, keep the youths engaged in activities that will impact their life in a positive manner.”

He added, “From experience, cricket is a team sport and requires you to work with ten other people on the cricket field including your coach and sometimes manager. This togetherness helps people to feel like part of something that is bigger than themselves. It allows them to learn better communication skills and teamwork in order to achieve a specific goal. This is an important step to helping younger people to develop interpersonal skills that are integral for them in surviving in today’s society. We have to keep the tournament going in order to have such a positive impact, and so it is up to us as alumni and corporate institutions as well as our sponsors.”

Organisers thanked Republic Bank profusely and said they jumped at the opportunity to bat for an employee from the financial sector. Republic’s credit card centre senior manager Shazard Mohammed said, “We are proud to be a part of this tournament. The Ross Cup T20 places an emphasis on areas of development that fall under the umbrella of our Power to Make a Difference social responsibility programme. Our involvement, therefore, allows us to deepen our focus on the sport of cricket while fulfilling our promise to build successful societies through the empowerment of our peoples and the preservation of traditions. We congratulate the organisers of the tournament on bringing it to fruition.”