Double celebration for Francois
Sports
February 23, 2007

Double celebration for Francois

The trail of recognition continued for Lauron Francois last Saturday night at the Peace Memorial Hall, when he was named the 2006 Junior Sportsman.

The 18-year old left-handed opening batsman received this accolade at the National Lotteries Authority National Sports Awards Ceremony.

Francois was any easy choice as his achievements over the past year had outstripped the two other finalists from a field of seven nominees.{{more}}

He got the nod over squash player Kevin Hannaway and tennis player Fabrice George.

Francois was captain of this country’s Under-19 cricket team that won the 2006 Windward Islands tournament which was held here. He went on to captain the Windwards in the regional competition and scored his maiden century, 135 against the host country Guyana.

An aspiring West Indies player, Francois copped both the Youth and Senior cricketer of the year titles at the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Cricket Association presentation ceremony last month.

It was double celebration for Francois as his father and mentor, Lauron Baptiste, received a special award from the National Sports Council for his contribution to sports. Baptiste is the driving force behind the upkeep of the London Playing Field located in the North Windward area.

Baptiste, a former St. Vincent and the Grenadines medium fast bowler, captained the Windward Islands outfit in the 1986 Under-19 regional cricket competition.