Malteenoes Academy Paving The Way

Long before the Shell Cricket Academy in Grenada or the Frank Worrell Development Centre in Trinidad and Tobago, there was the Malteenoes Cricket Academy in Georgetown, Guyana.

Established in 1993 with the support of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) at the famous Thomas Lands sports complex, the Malteenoes academy was the brainchild of the young vibrant managers who had taken over the club a decade earlier in 1983. Tasked with the challenge of taking the club to new heights they immediately hit upon the brilliant idea of shifting the focus to the development of a youth arm as the way forward for the club.

Malteenoes whose apt motto is ?Our Youth, Our Future? has over the years produced many of Guyana?s greats such as, Charlie Jones, John Trim, Glendon Gibbs, Rex Collymore, Barrington Brown, Clayton Lambert, Kenneth Wong and Colin Stuart, and the academy over the years has helped in the development of current players like, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Steve Massiah, Narsingh Deonarine and Azeemul Hannif.

The academy is open to players - both male and female - throughout the length of Guyana?s 83,000 square miles, between the ages of 8 ? 16 years and classes are conducted during the months of July and August over a period of 4 to 6 weeks. Over the last few years, the academy has even accommodated students from overseas who were on their summer holidays.

All meals and equipment are catered and provided by the academy which makes the course within the reach of many in Guyana.

Classes this year were conducted by such notables as Kenny Benjamin, West Indies selector Gordon Greenidge, Dr. Michael Seepersaud and former West Indies coach Roger Harper. In an interview with CaribbeanCricket.com, Coach Harper praised the concept of mini-academies throughout the Caribbean.

?I think it?s a terrific idea. And it?s great to see the Guyana Cricket Board supporting the Academy this year. However, I would like to see the establishment of other academies in each county that would act as a feeder of players to a national academy.?

He added: ?An academy does not necessarily have to be a huge structure, but could be a program that involves theoretical and practical sessions for players.? Harper further stated that this model could be expanded to have Academies in each territory all feeding a regional academy.

Prior to the recently concluded session, the Academy was totally conceptualized and controlled by managers within the club who saw the need to interact directly with the younger generation if corrective measures were to be taken to reverse the course they were heading in.

It was apparent that cricket in Guyana and the West Indies seemed to be a game where the basic skills, knowledge of the game, confidence and pride were being taken for granted in all quarters with no apparent prescriptions nor blueprints for remedial action. The principal intention of the academy was to add to the national grid at least 150 young, proud and confident individuals on an annual basis.

With the involvement and support of the Guyana Cricket Board it is hoped that the Academies program will be expanded from an already strong content which covers, the history of the game, social skills, communications, motivation, rules, scoring, strategies, physical education, care and use of equipment, nutrition, sports & drugs, dealing with S.T.I?s & S.T.D?s, computers, bio mechanics, public speaking and the opportunities available through sport.