MVP targets scholarship

THE BOY who entered Combermere a winner is looking to leave with even more glory.
Champion hockey player Akeil Craig-Browne now has his eyes set on the next prize, having revealed his plans of attaining an overseas scholarship to further his meteoric rise in the sport.
“Hopefully, I can find a suitable school, maybe in Canada or England,” said the Most Valuable Player (MVP)?in a recent interview with SUNSPORT.
“I haven’t narrowed my search as yet but hopefully something will come up when I am ready.”
It’s the natural progression of an illustrious career that fittingly started with success from his initial days at Alleyne School, where he first picked up a stick at the age of 12.
Just one year later and the obviously gifted Craig-Browne was already announcing his arrival on the stage, leading Alleyne to an Under-13 outdoor title after already losing a championship game to Garrison Secondary.
“I was encouraged by a cousin who had played at primary school and it really felt right,” explained the talented junior.
Not surprisingly, those early cups were just the first of many to come for the fast-rising teen, who capped his stay at Alleyne by sweeping the indoor and outdoor senior championships in fifth form.
It was only natural that Craig-Browne would take his talents to hockey’s most illustrious school. More fitting still were his achievements in the first year there.
Under the guidance of Colonel Deighton Maynard, Craig-Browne did the double again when he helped Combermere to both the indoor and outdoor senior titles.
“It was an easy transition for me, much easier than I expected because I knew the guys from playing against them in the school league,” said the 17-year-old standout.
“Of course, it also helped that they made it easy for me.”
But his finest season yet might be one of the few in which Craig-Browne didn’t taste team success since this year’s MVP run came at a time when his team lost both the indoor and outdoor finals to Combermere’s “B” squad.
“I’ve learned to pass a lot better and to have faith in weaker players, so I know I have improved,” said Craig-Browne of this year’s heartache.
“But the ‘B’ team was the better team and we certainly didn’t score our opportunities in both finals.”
Although he didn’t score in either game, Craig-Browne is still positive he can net an opportunity to take his talents overseas in a career that has also seen him play club hockey for Empire and make a national Under-17 team.
“I really hope that I can get that scholarship and possibly go on to represent Barbados at the senior level,” he added.