Cricket West Indies (CWI) has completed a three-week development program for local coaches in Trinidad and Tobago.
The programme, which ran from 31 May to 17 June at the National Cricket Centre, was run by CWI Director of Cricket Jimmy Adams and Coach Development Manager Chris Brabazon.
During the first week of the programme, Adams along with West Indies men’s batting coach Monty Desai and strength and conditioning coach Ronald Rogers conducted a session on batting and player development.
During this segment, Adams and Desai emphasized the importance of good coaching early in a player’s career and focused on decision-making as a key factor in a player’s development.
“Don’t be afraid, equip them and give them the confidence to make decisions for themselves, as the quality of their decision making will determine their performance as skills mean nothing if they can’t be applied,” Adams said during the program. .
Between June 13-17, Brabazon conducted the CWI Level 1 Competition Training Course and Level 2 Representative Training Program.
CWI Developers Coach Keshava Ramphal and Brendon Ramlal also conducted a Spin Bowling Workshop.
Coaches involved in both of these programs attended online modules in March covering the theoretical aspects of coaching in preparation for the face-to-face part of the programme.
Practical modules covered biomechanics, skill acquisition, applied coaching and game sense.
“The overall aim of these two coaching programs is to make sure we have really inspired, competent coaches who are willing to go out into the community and be able to coach players from the age of five to the U-19s. level,” said Brabazon.
“It’s really interesting to engage with the coaches, after two years of not being able to conduct face-to-face courses. It’s really clear and exciting that we have some really capable and passionate coaches who are really willing to contribute to the movement of Trinidad and Tobago and ultimately cricket in the West Indies,” added the CWI Coaching Development Manager.
Brabazon said there was an intentional philosophy behind the Bowling Spin Workshop, saying he had a similar workshop in Antigua a month ago.
“We essentially engaged already accredited coaches to provide them with some tailored development opportunities to network and share their coaching knowledge and experiences, while also taking away some key points for them to work with their players on the go forward,” said Brabazon.
“We have been working together with the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) for some time to get this workshop up and running, they were keen to get started with spin-bowling. The hope is that next time we can come back and explore a range of other topics, such as coaching, training women or effective training sessions,” he added.
Brabazon said the workshops allow CWI the flexibility to tailor their programs to meet the needs of coaches across the region.
He says CWI intended to do more of this in the coming years.
