THE Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport has commenced construction of their all-weather facility to boost the capacity of the elite programme of their cricket academy.
Minister Charles Ramson Jr. recently revealed the facility will be at the northeastern section of the National Stadium, Providence, and the intention is for it to be a model that can be implemented in all counties.

The estimated timeline for completion is three months.
Based on the consultations the minister had with various cricket stakeholders in February, this aspect of the facility is expected to have various pitches that allow players to hone their skills all year.

“It gives them (elite players) the opportunity to have net practice 365 days a year. We are no longer going to be plagued by rainy and dry season situations because we have to create the conditions in the country if we want to produce exceptional players where we are beating everybody in the world and we have been able to do that already,” Ramson Jr revealed.

The minister had previously indicated he will engage the Commonwealth Secretariat in getting technical support for the elite aspect of the Ministry’s Sport Academy.

Cricket, hockey and football are the remaining three of the 12 core sports whose academies are still to be officially launched, but are expected to commence within the coming months.
The other core sports currently identified by the ministry are badminton, basketball, squash, table tennis, rugby, volleyball, swimming, lawn tennis and track and field.

The three pillars of the Sports Academy are Nursery, Tournaments, and Elite Training Academy.
The elite training will last on average four to eight weeks and will see selected individuals dedicating themselves full-time to training.