THE QUARTET of Yeshowah Campbell-Smith and his sisters Em-Miryam, Abba and Rukha are not only trying their hands, but they are seeking to make their names in a number of sports.
The children of former Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs Darryl Smith are excelling in tennis and golf, while they are involved in table-tennis, football, cricket, water polo, chess and basketball.
The 13-year-old Yeshowah, a Form Two student of Fatima College, has represented his school in table-tennis, cricket water polo, chess and basketball.
A member of Total Tennis Academy, the 58th ranked singles player locally was the Under-10 singles champ at the 2018 RBC tournament, the Under-12 doubles champ at the 2019 Sagico and Subway tournaments, and the 2021 East Clubs tournament singles and doubles champ.
He also plays golf at St Andrew’s Golf Course, Moka, where he has earned several monthly medals tournaments, basketball with SpartansTT, as well as table-tennis and cricket for Queen’s Park.
Em-Miryam, 11, is a student of St Monica’s Prep. She won the RBC Under-12 singles last December, and the 2021 East Club Classified Class B women’s singles (the youngest to do so). She was also the Under-10 doubles champ in the 2019 Lease tournament.
Like Yeshowah, she plays golf at St Andrew’s, basketball for SpartansTT, football for Sport Faculty, table-tennis, football and cricket at Queen’s Park.
At the 2021 Catch Junior tennis tournament, three members of the Campbell-Smith family (Yeshowah, Em-Miryam and nine-year-old Abba) had the distinction of playing in three finals at the same time – Under-14 boys, Under-12 girls and Under-10 girls doubles.
Rukha is involved in Under-10 tennis, at the age of six.
According to Smith, “I am only doing what any parent should do, support my children.”
Ward, coach of Total Tennis Academy, mentioned, “Luckily, they have a big sporting background. It’s four of them. Because they’re exposed to so many sports from an early stage, they’re a little bit more developed than their peers, (in) their respective ages.
“It bodes well for them in all sports, especially in tennis. You’ll find they’re more athletic than the others,” Ward continued.
“It’s a good thing. They’re all doing well, every single one of them winning titles in their age groups, or reaching finals.”
Asked if the children can be a bit mischievous during training, Ward replied, “Luckily (Yeshowah) is the oldest one so he leads by example. Not like they are a problem but when (the girls) are alone, you can see where it can go haywire a little bit. But he plays his role really well as a leader of the group. He gets them in line, gets them focused and they follow him.”
On May 13, the quartet, at the St Mary’s Tennis Club in St Clair, spoke about their love for sports as well as their future aspirations.
What sports do you play?
Yeshowah: I play tennis, basketball, golf, cricket, water polo and chess.
Em-Miryam: I do golf, table tennis
