Tobago
Come on Beckles
Tobago Cricket Association (TCA) president-elect Kerwin John said the main focus for the next two-year term is the development of women’s cricket and youth cricket on the island.
John was re-elected to his fifth term following the AGM and the election of officers for the period 2022-2024 at the John Dial Multipurpose Facility. John was elected unopposed. All members of the continuing executive were returned with the exception of the general secretary who was not nominated for appointment. Tandeka Moses was nominated and elected to the post without opposition.
Farouk Ali will serve as first vice president, Earl Arthur is second vice president and Lincoln Nelson is treasurer. Other duties will be appointed at the first meeting of the executive.
TCA, with John as president, has made strides over the past eight years.
These include a Tobago senior team tour to St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the formation of the Bago T10 Blast Chiefs, Tobago’s under-13 development programs, coaching courses and John was instrumental in serving Tobagonians on national committees and panels. selective. John has served as manager of the TT U-19 cricket team and Tobagonian Brian Browne has coached the TT and West Indies juniors.
John, who is also the second vice-chairman at the TT Cricket Board (TTCB), was delighted to be back at the helm.
“It feels good (to be president again).” said John. “It shows that the people I represent have some faith in me and appreciate the work that has been done over the last eight years.”
John wants to continue to grow cricket in Tobago with a focus on youth. “You’ve got to keep setting the bar higher and higher as you go, keep improving the standard of cricket and one of the improvements we try in its youth development, getting more youngsters to come to a level where they they can go to national representation. …it was always going to be the main objective.”
Women’s cricket is also one of the main targets in the coming years.
“This term we definitely want to put a lot of emphasis on reviving women’s cricket in Tobago. Recently we had two wild ball tournaments in which mostly women participated. From TCA’s point of view our aim is to have some softball competitions at first trying to lure the ladies back into the game and eventually get them back to hardball.
Tobago has had many players over the years represent the national youth teams, including Joshua James. James was also selected in the West Indies U-19 squad for the U-19 World Cup in 2020. He has also played in the Hero Caribbean Premier League.
John said that in order to have more Tobagonians in TT teams, programs should be created to develop the skills of players and coaches. “The only way that can be done is by improving our standard of play and improving the quality of players we produce.”
A first-level training course, run by Cricket West Indies, was held in Tobago on Sunday, with 14 people taking part. John said TCA has a cordial relationship with TTCB.
