The stock of level One cricket coaches at the disposal of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Cricket Association Inc and other stakeholders of the sport has increased.

This, as fifteen new coaches successfully completed a two- day certification course at the Arnos Vale Playing Field on September 30 and October 1.

The sessions which were practical and theoretical, were guided by Project Officer for Cricket at Cricket West Indies (CWI), Junie Mitcham along with certified coaches, Ian Allen and Samantha Lynch.

For the two days, the participating coaches who were drawn mainly from the school system and the Division of Physical Education and Sports, were taught the basics of Cricket and coaching style, and the role of a competition coach at level one, among other areas.

Prior to attending the in-person the 15 participants were required to complete the prerequisite foundation course which was done online

Effectively, the course centred around the use of the implicit style of coaching, as explained and emphasized by Mitchum.

“The intention is to have the coaches adopt the implicit style of coaching instead of explicit, bearing in mind there are no right or wrong between each one, but it is our belief by using the implicit style you will be able to create better thinking and confident cricketers because they are part of the decision making using a more implicit style of coaching”, explained Mitchum.

A former first -class cricketer for the Leewards, Mitchum was here in St Vincent and the Grenadines in August to conduct a similar exercise.

He noted that the more recent course involved persons with little knowledge of cricket, whereas the course in August netted former and current cricketers.

Mitchum said that from Cricket West Indies’ stand point, it is imperative that the foundation is set by providing proper coaching education opportunities.