St George’s Cricket Club’s top all rounder in this year’s Cup Match at Wellington Oval, soft-spoken Rodney Trott, was the central personality a week ago when officers and members of the Bermuda Friendly Societies Association (BFSA) went to great lengths to make its 10th Annual Cup Match Sportsmanship Award presentation extra special.The Cup Match umpires upon evaluating the sportsmanship displayed by players on both Somerset and St George’s teams, found Rodney to be most outstanding. And the BFSA presented him with both its Shield and Emancipation Certificate; the Clarence O. Darrell Memorial Cup along with monetary and other gifts for his achievements. The Shield has the engraved names of previous awardees, including that of Janerio Tucker, the only one to appear on the shield more than once.Guest speaker at the BFA Annual was former government Minister of Sport, Elvin James, himself a one-time most outstanding Somerset Cup Match star. He highly complimented Rodney, whom he knew personally through previous friendly encounters he had with him. Another former Minister, MP Michael Weeks, also lauded Rodney because of previous associations he had with him in other sports realms.BFSA president Dr Michael Bradshaw, representing the Order of Samaritans, was joined by fellow members from Bermuda’s six active Friendly Societies in explaining their endeavours to keep to the fore the true meaning of Cup Match. They included Bro. Kyle Bridgewater, the Provincial Grand Master of Hamilton District of the Independent Order Odd Fellows; Sis. Valeria Tuzo, Sis. Sherma Calder, Sis. Lynn Wilson, Sis. Lisa Symonds and Bro. Norbert Simmons“We hold high the legacy that our forefathers left us, and we will do our share in preserving that part of our history.” It was the Friendly Societies in 1830 that prepared the then slaves for the actual Emancipation in 1834; and the subsequent Freedom Day celebrations that culminated in the first Cup Match in 1902.