17 West Indian coaches participate in induction for CWI Level 3 High-Performance certification
Cricket West Indies (CWI) has commenced its first-ever locally planned and delivered High-Performance Coach Development Programme. This initiative is part of CWI’s “Cricket First” strategic plan to invest in building coaching depth and quality across the region, considering the vital role coaches play in developing cricketers’ skills across all age groups and abilities.
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, which started with an online induction on Sunday, September 19, will see 17 participants from across the region take part in a 12-month programme via a blended learning approach. Among the coaches who are pursuing this highest level of accreditation are former West Indies batting great Shivnarine Chanderpaul; former West Indies international players: Rayad Emrit, Nikita Miller, Ryan Austin, and Garey Mathurin; as well as Test batsman and current Guyana Jaguars player Vishaul Singh.
The course will consist of online discussions, tutorials, and ongoing mentoring as well as a face-to-face residential component to be held in Antigua in October 2021. In addition to the technical basics of elite cricket, topics will include Programme Management, Sports Psychology, Leadership, Communication as well as Visual Technology and Data Analysis.
Delivery of the course will be by CWI 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.
CWI’s Coach Development Manager, Chris Brabazon, highlighted how the programme will significantly enhance high-performance cricket across the region. He said: “This programme will provide a huge boost to the upper echelons of our West Indies Cricket Pathway. By the end of our 12-month journey with these participants, we will have significantly added to our stable of local high-performance coaches. This group will understand how the role of a high-performance coach continues to evolve and how they can best manage themselves and their resources to create the best high-performance environments possible for their players in their current role whilst inspiring them to strive for the next step in their own coaching journey.”
In a brief address to the participants, CWI President Ricky Skerritt expressed his delight that the plan for self-sufficiency in modern coaching development was close to being fulfilled at CWI. He said that 29 certified Level 2 coaches had applied for the 17 available spaces, which have just been filled. “Coaches must compete for places just like cricketers do. Competitiveness and education are two key components for achieving excellence in coaching,” Skerritt said.
President Skerritt informed participants that, just in the past two years, 497 new coaching certificates had already been delivered across eight Caribbean countries – 81 at Level 2, 116 at Level 1, and 300 at the Foundation Level. 16 CWI Coach Developers have also been trained to deliver Level 1 Courses locally.
Skerritt added: “For our young West Indian cricketers to achieve their very best outcomes, all that we do to assist and support them must also be of the highest possible quality”.
