…New Strength and Conditioning Coach optimistic about this season
Three weeks ahead of the commencement of the 10th edition of the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL), the Guyana Amazon Warriors have fully encamped their local players as preparation for the tournament ramps up.
GAW Strength and Conditioning Coach Jamar Griffith (Jemima Holmes Photo)
While the likes of Veerasammy Permaul, Matthew Nandu and Junior Sinclair are working with the coaching staff, other Caribbean talents like Jermaine Blackwood are reportedly expected to join the camp very soon.
In the meantime, the new additions to the Warriors’ coaching department are working assiduously to ensure the guys are in tip-top shape as they prepare to take on the SKYEXCH 6ixty and Hero CPL.
Some scenes from the Guyana Amazon Warriors’ first day of encampment (Jemima Holmes Photo)
“Well, this is my first year with Guyana, and already I can see the setup that we have here. The coaches and management staff have been doing a fantastic job over the last couple of years. So, with what we have here already, I think it’s going to be a fantastic team,” newly appointed Strength and Conditioning Coach Jamar Griffith said on Tuesday afternoon at the beginning of the Warriors session.
The National Stadium at Providence was lit up with the Warriors’ familiar multicoloured training gear and shouts of enjoyment, as Assistant Coaches Ryan Hercules and Shaheed Mohamed led the team in various drills.
Giving clarity to their objectives for the camp, Griffith disclosed, “We just wanted to see the fitness levels of some of the guys, so we know exactly what we’re starting with, how much work we need to put in, so that by the time we’re ready to go off to St. Kitts, we can either get them ready or just be able to maintain the level of fitness that some of them already have.”
With strength and conditioning spelt out in his job title, the new Coach would have his hands full, especially with 6 weeks of T10 and T20 cricket to be played between the SKYEXCH Sixty and the CPL. As such, he shared his personal aims for the job.
“For me, it’s all about teaching the guys how to recover themselves, how to breathe in certain situations, and also flexibility and stuff like that. Fitness doesn’t only mean losing weight or getting faster, there’s a whole holistic side of things that we’ll be looking at to try to get the guys ready,” Griffith explained.
He continued, “So that we can keep them on the par for the six weeks or so.”
Quizzed about how he expects the Warriors team to gel ahead of the CPL, the Strength and Conditioning Coach had no qualms, noting that the process has already begun.
“The best part about it is that these guys are international players. The West Indies setup, they do a fantastic job already, so, I think by time they come into the setup, we would already have enough knowledge on where they are and how we can do what we need to do to keep them ready,” Griffith has said.
