By Romario Samaroo
Seventeen individuals completed the Cricket West Indies Foundation Coaching course yesterday at the National Stadium.
The two-day programme was the second of its kind for the month, with 13 participants completing the course last week.
The certified programme was carried out by Level Three coaches and trained tutors, Collin Stuart, who also serves as Territorial Development Officer (TDO) and International Match Referee, Reon King with assistance from Michael Franco.
Among the participating group was the lone female, discarded West Indies seamer, Subrina Munroe, Guyana Jaguars skipper, Leon Johnson, Essequibo captain, Anthony Adams, West Demerara captain, Akshaya Persaud, University of Guyana coach, Kenroy Joseph, Jaguar’s left-arm spinner, Veerasammy Permaul, Jamaica Scorpions’ Assad Fuddadin among others.
Speaking to Stabroek Sport in humid conditions as the potential coaches carried out their on-field display of their newly acquired skillset, Stuart explained “basically, the foundation course is geared at helping potential coaches at clubs which may be players acting in the capacity of coaches at clubs, teachers and individuals getting information about coaching approaches and methods that deal with how to coach and how to deal with learning principles as well as technical points to make learning easier while promoting a method that is common across territories in the West Indies.”
The former West Indies fast bowler, said that this group as well as the previous set has shown its vast knowledge of the game, particularly since most of them are actively involved with the sport which gave them a head start since it was just the adjustment of teaching what they knew.
The TDO stated that they have taken a different approach to the tutoring with persons maintaining the basic fundamentals of the techniques but were able to make it personal and adjust themselves in a manner that was suitable to them and easily transferred to their potential students.
With the new found knowledge, Stuart related that this can now qualify them to coach teams from the primary level and even at the Under-19 stage but more importantly, it provided a large number of persons to participate who will now carry over this knowledge into the local clubs and teams in order to help the development at the grassroots level where motor skills and techniques can be corrected early.
Adams, in an invited comment, commended the tutors for making the learning process as simple as possible noting that he decided to be part of the course since he has intentions of taking up coaching in the future as a means of giving back.
The 25-year-old related that the course provided the “fine turning” of their knowledge and helped with the social aspect of the game but was integral for his development presently on the field as he stated “being a leader, I will need to be able to have this knowledge to help the players in any way I can and my personal game.”
Stuart went on to indicate that as the fostering of more coaches continue, there will be a Level One course from July 18-21 and Level Two from July 26-29.
