Warrican wants cricket focus at both primary and tertiary levels

“Cricket administrators in this country must find a way to support cricket even among the tiny tots… It is not the best model to wait until boys and girls are in their teens to try to identify and develop cricketing talent.”{{more}}

That was the view expressed by the featured speaker Dr Joel Warrican at the St Vincent and the Grenadines Cricket Association’s annual awards ceremony held recently at the Murray Heights Hotel.

Addressing the topic: Integrating Education for Cricket Development, Warrican advanced “… Such talent should be caught and nurtured from as early as possible… It is best to start working with them early to help them to develop qualities such as confidence, good communication skills, critical thinking skills and social skills.”

At the other end of the educational spectrum – the tertiary level, Warrican said : “I am appealing to the cricket administrators in the country to find a way to keep our skilled players actively involved in the game even while they are pursuing academic education at the tertiary level… Currently, there is little avenue for cricketers who are studying at the SVG Community College to play enough of the sport to continue to maintain and hone their skills.”

Warrican who served as director of the SVG Community College commented, “The stance taken is that these are college students rather than school children and hence they are kept out of the schools competitions… I challenge you administrators to be innovative and find a model that can rectify this situation… Two years is too long for these players to go without the level of age-appropriate competition needed to keep them not only interested, but also in form.”

Warrican also expressed the view that the Cricket Association needs to work with the college to develop programmes that can nurture and support all players, inclusive of those who would not normally matriculate into the college.

“This programme can be designed to help these players to acquire the kind of education that goes beyond the academic: the kind that helps them to become confident, fluent communicators with the worldview that facilitates their development as sportspersons…Perhaps the Cricket Association can join all the other sporting associations and the college to explore the establishment of a sports academy for this purpose,” he said.

Warrican, in extolling the economic benefits of sports expressed that innovative ways must be pursued, so that players with talent should be provided with the opportunity to develop for their own advancement and for the benefit of their country and that of the region.

A primary schools’ cricket competition has not been held for almost two decades.

At present though, there is a Kiddy Cricket programme for primary schools, which culminates with a skills festival.

The programme is played with plastic implements.

However, there has been an annual secondary schools’ competition, which has been in place for many years.(RT)