The Georgetown Cricket Umpires and Scorers Association (GCUSA) yesterday embarked on its first outreach programme of the year by visiting Guyana Technical Institute (GTI), Woolford Avenue.
In an effort to widen the base of umpires locally, the initiative saw the likes of GCUSA president, Arleigh Rutherford, former test player, Colin Stuart, Joel Wilson, Jonathan Blades, Javed Persaud, Delvin Austin and Moses Ramnarine providing an informed session with the students of the school about the basics of umpiring and scoring.
According to Rutherford who initiated the programme along with GTI president, Renita Crandon, the partnership between the two institutions is to provide teaching for persons desirous of becoming umpires to which he noted is one of the most crucial figures in the sport and a growing fraternity.
International umpire, Wilson, commended the venture, indicating that this was the first time he had heard of something like this and he could not have passed the opportunity to come on board.
Wilson, who hails from Trinidad and Tobago, expressed his enthusiasm of seeing “a reasonable number” of females showing interest in the trade and encouraged them to stay on the course since the International Cricket Council intends to have more female umpires involved in female matches as he reflected on his journey to the international stage.
Persaud, who has moved through the ranks quickly to become one of the most recognisable umpires locally, said he too was happy with the progress and enjoys being on the field, watching the game so closely while Blades, who comes from Barbados, said that he is an engineer by trade and did not have any intention of becoming an umpire but attended the classes to aid his ability to manage a cricket team and fell in love with umpiring.
Stuart, who is also the Guyana Cricket Board Territorial Development Officer, along with Austin both encouraged the youngsters to focus on what their heart desired when it comes to building a career.
After the interactive segment, the GCUSA presented the school with a cricket law book and welcomed them into the cricket world where they are expected to play age limited cricket and second division.
The GCUSA plans to continue visiting institutions across the capital in an effort to build capacity with its classes beginning next month.
