Twenty local coaches are benefitting from a Cricket West Indies (CWI) Level 2 Coaching Course delivered with the assistance of tutors from University of the West Indies and the governing body’s recently appointed Coaching Education Manager – Chris Brabazon.
The course that began on December 12 and concludes on December 16, is being delivered at Sabina Park and also incorporated the services of two CWI Cricket Specialists, Jamaicans Phillip Service and David Bernard Jr. Prior execution in Jamaica it was delivered in Barbados, Guyana and the Windward Islands.
“This course is part of the CWI’s ‘cricket-first’ strategy which is aimed at improving the human capital in the which supports talent development at all levels. This coaching education focus is done for the foundation through to Level 3. We are building capacity in different areas so that we can develop quality players and winning teams,” said CWI Director and Jamaica Cricket Association President Wilford “Billy” Heaven.
“The Cricket Education Manager will add to the process a focus on the methodology used by the coaches. The pedagogy of any subject is quite important. All our players don’t learn the same way and that is being taken into consideration.”
Meanwhile, the CWI Cricket Education Manager Chris Barbazon believes that coaching in the region is trending in the right direction but the region is behind in this regard.
“Other countries are more advanced in terms of their accreditation systems already being in place. Once the system is in place then more workshops and seminars can be done to build more on what is learned during a course. It allows for greater focus to be placed on getting coaches to the top levels over shorter periods than currently exist,” he said.
“I’m enthused by the positive attitude of the coaches. The next step is to take a look at all the Level 2 coaches across the region and organize a Level 3 course over the next 8-12 months. Thereafter we will seek to strengthen the various cohorts and better the franchise coaches and so on.”.
UWI Tutor Ryerson Bahgoo noted that Level 2 focuses on identifying a player’s strengths and weakness and with the intention to reinforce and strengthen. The Level 2 course uses a more cooperative approach to coaching through observation and implicit learning using cricket drills. Coaches who have successfully completed the level 2 certification may coach in senior clubs and secondary schools that play competitive cricket.