Participants of the captaincy seminar with coaches after the session
The Berbice Cricket Board last Sunday hosted two highly successful seminars at the Albion Sports Complex as it expands its developmental programme. The first seminar was a refresher course for cricket coaches attached to the BCB outreach campaign, and the second was for youth captains in the county.
Captains involved in a presentation during the seminar
BCB Secretary Angela Haniff hailed the two sessions as surpassing the objectives of the board, and praised the work of the three Level Three cricket coaches who conducted the seminars — Esuan Crandon, Julian Moore and Winston Smith.
Coaches attached to the BCB Coaching Programme were in attendance at the seminar, which was scheduled to last for three hours but was extended to over six hours. Three hours were spent in class with the facilitators in an effort to have the coaches fully understand their roles, especially in regard to management of players.
Some of the coaches at the seminar posing with Coach Esuan Crandon
The next session, held on the all-weather court, was an extensive one, as the coaches were involved in the art of batting, especially batting stance, bat grip, foot movement, and how to play the different shots, including the pulls, drives and defence.
Esuan Crandon, former Berbice captain and most successful regional first-class cricket coach, urged the coaches to be committed to their work and to develop a working relationship with their charges. He spoke of the importance of players respecting their coaches, and noted that the BCB was on the right path to development by investing at the grassroots level.
BCB President Hilbert Foster committed the BCB to organising similar programmes in the future, in an effort to make sure that all the coaches are working from the same song book. Among the coaches present were Nicky Latchman, Junior Blair, Gregory Crandon, Balram Samaroo, Shamal Angel, Leslie Soloman, Tremayne Smartt and Ryan Algu.
More than 70 current and potential captains at the youth level attended the captaincy seminar, which was conducted by five-time winning regional youth coach Julian Moore. The three-hour seminar involved a lot of group work, with the players focusing on improving their captaincy skills and knowledge of the game. Among the numerous topics covered were the role of a leader, player management, personal discipline, leading by example, field placement, communication, and public speaking.
Coach Moore has said he was very impressed with the involvement of the captains, and noted that their contribution in the five groups surpassed his expectation.
BCB President Hilbert Foster, in an impassioned opening remark to the attentive youths, urged them to grasp as much information as possible. The main objective of the investment was to make sure that the county has the best leadership on the cricket field.
Foster has said that leadership is the most important part of an entity, and the board is determined to have the best of the best follow in the footsteps of Rohan Kanhai and Alvin Kallicharran, former West Indies captains.
He also urged the players to develop a habit of reading in an effort to learn as much as possible about the game.
National and Berbice players Isaiah Thorne, Gourav Ramesh, Matthew Pottaya, Sohail Mohamed, Tomai Caesar, Zeynul Ramsammy, Jonathan Rampersaud, Romesh Bharrat, Leon Cecil and Damion Cecil were all in attendance.
