4 UTT STUDENTS SELECTED TO TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO's NATIONAL WOMEN'S CRICKET TEAM

MIXING SPORTS & TERTIARY EDUCATION

Not one, not two, but four UTT students represented Trinidad and Tobago Red Force Divas (national female cricket team) in Guyana in the recently concluded West Indies Colonial Medical Insurance Women's Super-50 Cup. They are Stacy Ann King, in Year 2 of the Bachelor of Sport Studies programme, Karishma Ramharack, final year Civil Engineering student and debutantes Leandra Ramdeen and Mikaela Jodhan, both Bachelor of Education students, years 2 and 4 respectively.  

Not only were they part of a team of talented Trinidad and Tobago players but throughout  the five match round robin tournament, our young ladies all played a part in keeping the team in the hunt for the prestigious title. UTT's ladies picked up the Players of the Match awards in 3 out of the 5 matches. 

Playing against the host Guyana in their first round match, Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) soundly defeated their Guyanese counterparts by 69 runs. 

Coming up against the Windward Islands ladies in their second game, T&T scored 257 for the loss of 5 wickets in their turn at the crease, with the in-form Stacy Ann King top scoring with an unbeaten 79. T&T then restricted their opponents to 206 for 9 on the back of UTT's off spin duo of Karishma Ramharack - 2 for 31 - and diminutive debutant Leandra Ramdeen who had figures of 2 for 47. Ms. King's 79 not out however was viewed by the adjudicators as the most pivotal performance and earned her the "Player of the Match" award.

In game 3 against the Leeward Islands (LI), Leandra Ramdeen earned "Player of the Match" honors helping T&T to restrict the LI to a paltry 78 runs, when they bat first. Her bowling figures read: 8 overs, 4 wickets, 12 runs – quite impressive. T&T chased down the total quite comfortably reaching 79 for 4 in the 17^thover.

Game four, played against the mighty Jamaicans, resulted in yet another victory for the T&T Divas. T&T bowled out Jamaica for 115 and got to their target in 34.3 overs. "Player of the Match" honors again went to a UTT lady; Ms. Karishma Ramharack who had excellent bowling figures of 6 overs, 1 maiden, 3 wickets for 19 runs. Super performance by Karishma. 

T&T entered the final game against a formidable Barbados outfit, who like themselves, had played unbeaten up to that point. This meant that the winner would be crowned Champions of the Cricket West Indies Colonial Medical Insurance Women Super-50. Unfortunately T&T lost their final game and had to settle for 2^nd place in the competition. Our ladies flew the UTT flag high as they represented the red, white and black. 

Ms. King, who was a member of the Champion West Indies Women team that in the 2016 ICC Cricket World Cup in India, and who also represented UTTs High Performance Cricket team in 2018, had this to say: "I think it's important that we let people know that we are students of UTT pursuing our degrees in various fields of Tertiary Education. This effort and these achievements can go a long way towards paving the way for and showing other students that Sport and Education is the right mix. Who knows maybe we can start our very own female cricket team right here at UTT; I look forward excitedly to that possibility." 

The University of Trinidad and Tobago congratulates our young ladies for making Trinidad and Tobago's Women Cricket and UTT proud.

From left to right: Stacy Ann King, Mikaela Jodhan, Leandra Ramdeen & Karishma Ramharack 

Stacy Ann King receiving her "Player of the Match award" for her 79 not out vs. the Windward Islands

Leandra Ramdeen receives her first national cap from Captain Melissa Aguilleira

Leandra Ramdeen, "Player of the Match" vs. the Leeward Islands