– Minister Norton urges participants to take full advantage
CLOSE to 100 aspiring cricketers will spend the next two weeks garnering the fundamentals of cricket, both on and off the field, after the Malteenoes Cricket Academy was officially launched yesterday at the Thomas Lands facility.
The aim of the Academy is not only for nurturing and fostering the development of aspiring cricketers, but is also aimed at realizing the numerous opportunities the sport can offer professionally.
Minister of Social Cohesion with responsibility for Sport, Dr. George Norton, who was the ceremony’s guest speaker, pointed out that programmes of such nature is not only aimed at developing the skills in each cricket-discipline using the expertise readily available, but will also lend in no small way to the holistic development of each participant.
“We all know that this Academy over the years has contributed to the grooming of some of the country’s best cricketers who have done Guyana proud, so I want to encourage you to grasp all that is taught,” Dr Norton said.
Minister Norton recognized the Academy’s coaching staff and personnel as an excellent team, and expressed confidence that the cricketers – male and female – who will attend the Academy will find themselves in good hands.
“I am particularly impressed by the depth of the programme and the fact that the sessions are not only about teaching cricket techniques. I am happy to know that you will be addressing issues like child safety and protection, hygiene and social skills.
I am also quite impressed by the fact that this Academy will not only be grooming future cricketing stars, but umpires, scorers, journalists and even broadcasters as well,” the Minister revealed.
Minister Norton made it clear that any programme which assist to empower youths, and at the same time foster social cohesion, will always get the Ministry’s, and by extension, the government’s full support.
Meanwhile, head coach of the Academy, Orin Bailey, told the participants that punctuality and discipline will be two key areas which the club will closely monitor.
This year’s Academy is scheduled to conclude on August 3. It will include classroom and field work which will provide training to become cricketers, umpires, scorers, journalists and broadcasters.
The Academy produced Test players such as Ramnaresh Sarwan, Ryan Ramdass and Narsingh Deonarine, along with former USA captain Steve Massiah, who played two ODIs for the USA while Azeemul Haniff and Ricardo Mohamed played First-Class cricket.
Karran Ganesh, Sauid Drepaul, Ravi Sarwan, Bachan Balram, Colin Murray, Karran Ganesh and Vishal Arjune all played National Youth Cricket.
After a break, the Academy was reintroduced in 2016 on a much smaller scale but was again interrupted last year due to the unavailability of coaches who were occupied with CPL duties.
The Malteenoes Cricket Academy was launched in July 1993 in recognition of the Club’s Motto: ‘Our Youth, Our Future’.
