Barbados: Sixteen-year-old Shaquan Belle, who represented Barbados on the victorious national under-17 cricket team in the just concluded Cricket West Indies Rising Under-17 Championships in Trinidad, has earned a two-year partial sports scholarships to continue his studies at Scarborough College in England.
Shaquan will be studying for the International Baccalaureate Curriculum in sixth form and some of his subjects will include Sports Exercise and Health Science, Mathematics, Applications and Interpretations, Biology and Chemistry.
He will also be enrolled in the College’s Cricket Centre of Excellence Programme, headed by former Zimbabwe international Piet Rinke. Former England cricketers Craig White and Ryan Sidebottom are also part of Scarborough’s coaching staff.
The former Prefect at The Lodge School, started his cricket journey at Bayley’s Primary School when he was about seven years old and he went on to captain the school’s team in the Herman Griffith tournament in 2017. That year he led his team to victory in all of the matches they played.
Bayley’s Primary would remember him for his outstanding spell in his final Herman Griffith tournament when he not only captained the team, but he scored 101 runs in the quarter-finals, took four wickets in the semi-finals and 8 wickets for 16 runs in the finals.
He was awarded ‘Man of the Match’, ‘Most Valuable Player’ and he also won a national award.
As he transitioned to the Lodge School, he continued his cricketing journey and captained the school’s team in the BCA Zonal under-13 series where he took seven wickets for 21 runs and scored 85 runs in one game.
Shaquan was called to the Everton Weekes Centre of Excellence when he was 13 years old and he played on the under-14 Barbados squad against cricket Wales Ladies. He was selected for West Indies under- 15 and 19 trial matches and Barbados Youth training sessions.
Cricket is his passion and besides school cricket, Shaquan also played for St. Catherine Sports & Social Club and later Wildey Sports Club.
He captained St Catherine’s under-13 team and had six five-wicket hauls playing for his club in the BCS under 13 tournament. He also scored over ten fifties and 139 runs in one of the preliminary rounds of the tournament.
Shaquan has also represented Wildey Sports Club in the CCL under-16 tournament in which he scored two fifties and had a knock of 134 and 147 ‘not out’ in the CCL finals.
Shaquan appreciates the opportunities that has been available to him while playing cricket and as a result, he gives back by spending free time assisting younger aspiring cricketers.
He is looking forward to playing at a more senior level for Barbados and has dreams of also playing for the West Indies team, but for now he is focusing on the International Baccalaureate Programme and developing his cricket skills at Scarborough College.
