Forty-five young cricketers yesterday participated in a Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA) one day cricket clinic at the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC).
The initiative, the brainchild of current Guyana Jaguars skipper, Leon Johnson was conducted under the watchful eyes of the clinic’s technical director, Mark Harper; former West Indian Test cricketers Roger Harper, Clyde Butts, and Reon King; Paul Castello and a few other local coaches.
Johnson, upon the conclusion of the clinic, noted that he was eager to organise the occasion out of his sense of obligation to give something back to the sport.
“I’ve been around cricket for a while now, and I’ve always wanted to give back something in any form or way, and I saw it best that young cricketers around Georgetown have the opportunity to learn from the experienced players and coaches who we have here today,” Johnson remarked.
The stylish left-hander, who was highly touted as a junior player, went on to note the importance of mentorship and its impact on his earlier cricketing days.
It was against this backdrop that he wanted the invited youngsters to get a taste of what it is to be guided by some of the best in the business.
“When I was younger, I had the opportunity to be coached and mentored by some of these guys, and I learnt. I developed, and I’ve been looking at cricket in Georgetown and noticed that we have a lot of talent in the various clubs. I know some of the clubs are short on coaches, so I saw it fit to give those young players the same opportunities that I had to learn and develop,” the former West Indies Under – 19 captain explained.
He further expressed his desire to continue the initiative and also hinted at expanding the duration of the clinic beyond the initial one day hosting in order to increase its impact.
“I know it’s only a day but this is the first and in the future, I’d like for it to go for two or three days where they have a lot more sessions and hopefully learn a lot more. Nevertheless, whatever they learnt here today I hope that it would stick with them throughout their cricketing endeavours.”
The clinic focused on improving and fine-tuning players’ techniques and their game situation approach.
