Avernelle Holder: A true mentor and motivator

Twenty-six-year-old Avernelle Holder was just playing her favourite sport six years ago when she was spotted by Earl Brown, former Peace Corp Director of Guyana. Impressed with her talent and desires to further her study, he assisted her to get a scholarship at Alcon State University, Mississippi.
Holder was born in Guyana to parents Winifred Emanuel and the late George Holder and has two older brothers. She grew up in Werk-En-Rust Georgetown, and attended St. Agnes Nursery and Primary Schools. After writing the Secondary School Entrance Examination (SSEE), she was awarded a spot at North Georgetown Secondary but after a year, she was transferred to St. Stanislaus College.
She told Guyana Times International Sport that she was always involved in sports. Initially she was passionate about athletics but at St. Stanislaus College, she developed a love for tennis and took classes under the eyes of William Skeete at the Non Pariel court. According to her, after several months of learning tennis, she became a contender for the 14-and-Under Girls title.
Playing among seasoned players, she started with a series of losses but her desire to be a winner, drove her to train beyond her coach’s sessions.
Admirably, her extra effort did not take away from her academic focus. She claimed that the passion she had for tennis channeled into her studies.
The well-rounded student acquired nine subjects at the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) exams. After that she moved to the sixth-form and acquired four subjects at the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE).
It was during this time she met Brown at the Castellani House tennis court while playing. He was impressed with her talent and when he learnt about her desire to further her education, he offered to assist her to get a scholarship. Brown sent all her certificates and tapes of her playing, to Alcon State and after review she got a full scholarship. In 2004, she ventured to the United States of America to read for a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration while playing tennis. During that time, her team won the South Western Athletic conference Tennis Championship in 2008.

Also during her undergraduate years, her leadership skills saw her in various posts. She was the president/member of  Delta Mu Delta International Business Honours Society, member of the students in Free Enterprise, and member of the International Multi-cultural Association.
After completing her undergraduate degree, Holder pursued her Master of Business Administration (Marketing Concentration) at the Kent University; she graduated in 2010. At Kent University she was the Vice President of the Graduate Management Association, presenter at the Key Bank and Fisher College of Business 2009 Minority MBA Case Competition, and presenter at the John Molson International MBA Case Competition.
Approximately one year and five months now, the USA-based Guyanese has been working as an accountant executive at Epsilton. She said tennis is her passion but it is something secondary now as her work does not give her enough time to play professionally. However, she hopes to play it at the amateur level.
Holder was recently in Guyana on vacation, and she took some time off to meet and interact with junior tennis players in an effort to motivate and provide advice to them on career choices.
She told this publication that tennis has improved over the years but she will like to see the youths competing at more overseas competitions, noting that the exposure to foreign players will develop their skills and teach them new techniques. She added that a sound educational background must be a priority for young players.
“Being good tennis players is not enough; education is very important to survive. Education is also vital for young tennis players if scholarship opportunities arise. Also, there is need for scholarship opportunities for these young promising players. They need something life changing to motivate them”, she posited passionately.
Holder emphasized that is it possible to achieve anything with dedication, the establishment of a contingent plan, positive mentors and support from love ones. She used the opportunity to express her gratitude to all those who supported her, including her mother, her aunt (Pinky), Earl Brown, William Skeete, Shelly Daly-Ramdyhan, Diwani Lewis, Leyland Leacock, Grace McCalman, and her friends as well.