Cricket West Indies (CWI), in partnership with the Jamaican Cricket Association (JCA) will be delivering a week-long series of coach-development events across the country this coming week.

The aim of the initiative is to provide accessible, ongoing personal development opportunities for local coaches to further prepare and inspire them to have a positive impact on the players within their communities.

Former West Indies Captain and current CWI Director of Cricket, Jimmy Adams will be involved in the delivery of all events, alongside CWI Coach Development Manager, Chris Brabazon and local Coach Developers Philip Service and Gibbs Williams.

The events will include several two-day practical coaching components of the CWI Competition Coaching Course (Level 1) which will be held at both the Trelawny multi-purpose stadium on the island’s north coast on 5 and 6 December and at the historic Sabina Park in the capital Kingston on 8 and 9 December.

“It has been a massive year for our CWI Coach Development programme with over 40 face-to-face and online courses and workshops delivered to over 730 coaches,” said Brabazon.

“To now be heading back to Jamaica to continue the work alongside such a high calibre line-up of presenters is very exciting and I am sure that the participants, the panel ourselves, and ultimately the local players will gain plenty from the interactions.”

Four CWI Coach Development Workshops will also be held each evening following the preceding accreditation courses. These free workshops are open to all previously accredited coaches and will cover both “Spin Bowling” and “Batting against Spin” on alternate nights. Former West Indies and Jamaica spin bowler, Nikita Miller and current CWI Academy Head Coach, Andre Coley will also be involved in the delivery of these events which will utilise some talented young spin bowlers and batters from each locale.

“The upcoming week is part of CWI’s strategic objective to raise coaching standards across the region through a rigorous coach education and development programme,” said CWI Director of Cricket Jimmy Adams.

“On top of delivering the face-to-face component of the CWI Level 1 course, the specialist workshops will concentrate our efforts to address specific issues affecting our regional game.”

Cricket West Indies’ (CWI) Coaching Development Programme, in conjunction with the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) and the University of the West Indies (UWI), delivered a series of face-to-face Coach Development events in Barbados from March 25 to 27.

The events were aimed to upskill, assess and accredit local coaches and coach developers from the CWI Level 1 to Level 3 coaching programmes to support the West Indies Cricket Pathway.

In its promise to lift coaching standards, over the past three years CWI has delivered 552 new coaching certificates across eight Caribbean countries – 93 at Level 2, 129 at Level 1, and 330 at the Foundation Level. 16 CWI Coach Developers have also been trained to deliver Level 1 Courses locally.

A total of 25 participants took part in the face-to-face components of the CWI Competition Coaching Course (Level 1) and the CWI Representative Coaching Programme (Level 2) which were held concurrently at Kensington Oval. Among the coaches who completed the courses were West Indies players Dwayne Smith, Kirk Edwards, Shane Dowrich, Shayne Moseley and Charlene Taitt with a total of five female coaches participating along with several current and former first-class players.

Both cohorts participated in separate online modules throughout March covering theoretical aspects of coaching in preparation for the face-to-face part of the programme which covered practical modules such as biomechanics, skill acquisition, applied coaching and game sense.

 “Initiatives like this are part of the CWI strategy to make coach-development opportunities more accessible and inclusive for anyone who would like to learn more about coaching and then use that training to actively grow the game in their communities,” said CWI Coach Development Manager, Chris Brabazon.

“The BCA did a fantastic job in promoting the courses and assisting with the delivery. In particular Coach Developers Rohan Nurse, Robin Paris and Hendy Springer are now able to present future Level 1 courses around Barbados as required. Also, the support from our UWI Coach Developers continues to be excellent in the development and delivery of our Level 2 and Level 3 coaching Programmes.”

Dowrich believes the course was beneficial.

“The course was very productive. I learnt a lot over the last couple of weeks, which included the online modules,” he said.

“It has been very interesting and opened my mind to a lot of things I haven’t been thinking about as a cricketer. It’s good to have the theory side and also look at how to apply that to the practical side, which we did here at Kensington. The education in this programme is critical and will help to improve cricket in the Caribbean.”

Brabazon was also able to observe local coaches who are taking part in CWI’s first-ever locally delivered Level 3 Coaching Programme. Jamal Smith and Corey Yearwood are taking part in the ongoing 12-month programme and were observed during their respective coaching sessions at Kensington Oval and Pickwick Cricket Club.

The next stage of the Cricket West Indies (CWI) High-Performance Coach Programme has been successfully delivered as part of CWI’s development and investment strategy to upgrade and upskill coaches across the region.  A number of enthusiastic coaches from across the region participated in the week-long event at the end of October at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua, which was delivered on the back of five online modules leading into the event.

 The latest stage involved face-to-face practical components to build coaches’ knowledge. In addition to the technical basics of elite cricket, topics included Leadership, Programme Management, Communication, Skill Acquisition as well as Visual Technology and Data Analysis. One of the highlights was a bowling master-class with iconic fast bowler Courtney Walsh, who is the Head Coach of the West Indies Women’s Team.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul, the legendary West Indies batsman, was among the participants and he was very positive about the programme. “It is a lot of information being passed on. There are so many different and informative things, which we have gone through on this High-Performance Level 3 coaching course and I am very happy to be participating. It is very beneficial for all of us, this is where coaching is going, and it is very necessary that we are aware and equipped to be able to share the knowledge to our players,” he said.

 Several other former international players participated including Nikita Miller, Garey Mathurin, Vishal Singh, Ryan Austin, and Rayad Emrit.

 This is the first-ever locally planned and delivered High-Performance Coach Programme (Level 3) CWI which forms a key part of the “Cricket First” strategic plan, which includes investment in building coaching depth and quality across the region, especially considering the vital role coaches play in developing cricketers’ skills across all age groups and abilities both on and off the field.

 The High-Performance (Level 3) programme has been designed by CWI Coach Development Manager, Chris Brabazon, in partnership with the University of the West Indies (UWI). It provides a number of the region’s best coaches with opportunities to further learn and develop contemporary coaching philosophies and techniques that will allow them to thrive in the high-performance environment of the West Indies Cricket Pathway.

 The rigorous, holistic accreditation also consists of online discussions, tutorials, and ongoing mentoring. The course was delivered by CWI’s High-Performance staff, in conjunction with UWI representatives, to provide participants with unprecedented access to best practice case studies and frameworks from the elite levels of West Indies cricket and beyond.

Cricket West Indies (CWI) has commenced its first-ever locally planned and delivered High-Performance Coach Development Programme.