Stroke of Genius!

There’s nothing better than your first time, especially when it comes to achieving success. Add to that the characterization of underachiever and this success story now becomes a testimonial. This is the sentiment at the Grande Riviere Secondary School, after the school won the first prize at the National Science and Technology Fair in the Lower Secondary School category.

Representing the school at the fair were Jhervey Censey and Tré Ferdinand. Their winning presentation: ‘The Darren Sammy Batting Glove’ incorporating ‘The Stroke Corrector’.

Jhervey and Tré are Form One students. Both express a passion for cricket and play with their respective community clubs. Jhervey, who refers to himself as a bowler, is from the community of Dennery, while Tré is a batsman and resident of Malgretoute, Micoud. The boys explain how the Stroke Corrector idea came about.

“Tré and I were talking about our problems when we’re batting: we wanted to keep the bat at a slant when playing strokes, because they keep catching us when we play a shot. So we wanted to do something that could help us with that. We first put an eraser in the glove during training and we saw a difference in the way we slant our wrist, and then we came up with the Stroke Corrector, ” said Jhervey.

Keziah Edward, Mathematics, Biology and Integrated Science teacher at the school, elaborated on the Stroke Corrector.

“Basically the stroke corrector does changes the angle that they hold the bat. It is like placing an obstacle or a small item in the palm of your hand in the cricket glove and it would change the angle at which the bat is held. So this would correct how you hit the ball and in turn corrects your stroke play,” she explained.

The boys stated that they were trying to create their project’s theory during their science classes, when one of their Integrated Science teachers, Nintus Magre made mention of the Science Fair. In discussing possible ideas,
it was decided that they would go ahead with the Stroke Corrector.

Miss Edward says the boys are very capable students who possess a desire for learning.

“They are bright, outgoing students. They pass their subjects, participate in class discussions, submit work on time and portray an enthusiasm for learning.

“I thought the Science Fair was a very good experience for them because they actually got to go out there to interact with other students and to represent the school for the first time.

“Winning the first place prize felt like their hard work paid off. We had to actually put together cricket gloves because the Stroke Corrector wouldn’t fit into the actual cricket glove. So the students stayed back after school, they got the required items to make the gloves, researched on the content, and read up on different stroke methods in cricket,” Edward concluded.

“We had a feeling that we would win because most people were interested in our project through our demonstration and our presentation,” said Tré.

“I wasn’t surprised that we won because we had won the competition for District 5. So that gave me a lot of confidence,” Jhervey added.

According to school principal of the Grande Riviere Secondary School, Mrs. Flora Joseph; “An achievement like that for the school is really motivational for the rest of the students; students who may not be very academic, to recognize that nothing is beyond their reach if they really put their mind to it. I see it as an opportunity to applaud the efforts of the students.”

The boys currently use the invention during practice and training and confess that it would be a dream come true if their stroke corrector could be used by batsmen and cricketers around the world.

“If we were to make money off the Stroke Corrector, we would donate a certain amount to the school. I would use some of it to try to improve the stroke corrector and share the new invention with the young persons in my community,” suggested Tré.