Windwards Cricket Board to push Youth Development Programmes

The Windward Islands Cricket Board (WICB) has reaffirmed its commitment to accelerate its male and female youth development programmes throughout the four Windward Islands. This was among the decisions made at the annual general meeting of the WICB held earlier this month on mainland, St Vincent where team management appointments also were made.

Three specific programmes will receive laser attention: Boys Under-13; Girls Under-16; and Men’s Under 23.

The Under-13 programme will culminate in a limited overs competition between the Windward Islands Under-13 team and the Trinidad & Tobago Under-13 team. This competition will be played in Grenada during August 2024, with a return leg in Trinidad & Tobago in 2025. The programme will be led by head coach, Troy George and managed by Junior Derose.

The Under-16 girls’ and the Under-23 men’s programmes will commence in the latter part of 2024, both of which will help widen the pool of talented young girls and young men. The Under-16 programme will be led by head coach, Samantha Lynch, and managed by Rosie Preville. The Under- 23 programme will culminate with two separate Windward Islands Under 23 tournaments where St. Vincent and the Grenadines will play a mini-series against Grenada, while Dominica plays against Saint Lucia.

President of the WICB, Dwain Gill, said the Board recognizes the importance of harnessing young talent so the decision was made to accelerate youth development through the implementation of the three programmes. He added that the programmes were in keeping with the strategic objectives of Cricket West Indies (CWI), to promote and strengthen the cricketing talent pathways in all the territorial Boards, and that the Windward Islands intend to stay ahead of the curb given the recent success of all its competitive teams.

The AGM also benefited from a comprehensive presentation by Miles Bascombe, director of Cricket at CWI, who spoke primarily about the roles of the Territorial Boards towards the development of West Indies Cricket, and how CWI intended to charter this development.

As an adjunct to the AGM, the Board participated in a discussion on corporate governance. This discussion was driven by a presentation by Debra Coryat-Patton, a non-member director on the Board of CWI, and an attorney at law with many years of experience working in the field of corporate governance.

The following are the summarized appointments made by the Board:

Male U-13 Team Management- Junior DeRose was appointed manager, Troy George was appointed coach.

Male U-15 Team Management – Paul Johnson Richardson was reappointed manager and Dalton Polius was appointed coach.

Female U-16 Team Management – Rosie Preville was appointed manager and Samantha Lynch was appointed coach.

Male U-17 Team Management – Samuel Holder was reappointed manager and Clyde Telesford was reappointed coach.

Female U-19 Team Management – Cleton Burnett was reappointed coach and Kimara Hurtault was reappointed manager.

Male U-19 Team Management – Garey Mathurin was reappointed coach and Randel Baptiste was again appointed manager.

Male & Female Senior Teams: Kenroy Peters remains the head coach of the professional team, ‘Windwards Volcanoes’.

The Board will undergo a recruitment drive to fill coach and management positions for the Senior Women’s Team.