Buccament Bay Resort Cricket academy in full swing

Following on the heels of the introduction of tennis and football academies, a National Cricket Academy has been established on the grounds of the Buccament Bay Resort.{{more}}

Members of national under-19 cricket team training squad, joined with officials of the resort and the local cricket association and other sports officials, at the resort last Saturday, May 19, to welcome in the new initiative, which is expected to raise the standard of the game here.

Speaking at the launch, Junior Minister of Sport Senator Elvis Charles and General Secretary of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Cricket Association Samuel Holder joined with other speakers to laud Harlequin and Buccament Bay Resorts, for the creation of the academy.

Charles and Holder acknowledged that the establishment of the Academy would not only boost the performance of the local cricketers who would join the Academy, but also see it as an opportunity to boost the local tourism product, when individuals, clubs and teams from the region and international arena visit the resort as part of their training or vacation.

General Manager of the Resort Kevin Smith, speaking at the ceremony, indicated that the academy and facility are part of Harlequin Group’s social responsibility program, which not only aims to boost cricketing skills here, but also to boost the tourism product.

The facility, which was used by the Australia and West Indies Cricket teams during the just concluded one-day series here, boasts four practice nets, which were described by the academy’s coach Deighton Butler and others, as world class.

Also, the coach of the local under-nineteen squad, Butler, pointed out that other cricket projects undertaken by the Harlequin Resorts have been bearing fruit.

“When we go to England to play, these are what we see on their first class grounds. What we have here is a tremendous facility; I hope the guys are going to make the most of it.

“….Because in the national secondary schools competition, of the eight teams in the quarterfinals, five are benefitting from the (after school) program. We recognize the efforts and Buccament Resort, not only in St Vincent, but also throughout the region.”

The under-19 team, currently in preparation for the Windward Islands tournament, will be the first participants of the Academy.

They are currently being trained by Butler, Technical director of Windward Islands Youth Cricket Irving Warrican, as a well as a number of other coaches.

The tournament runs from July 13-22 in Dominica.(JJ)