– Advertisement –
By Neto Baptiste
President of the Antigua and Barbuda Cricket Association (ABCA) Leon “Kuma” Rodney, in response to heavy criticism of the body’s seeming lack of interest in grassroots development, has responded by reminding the critics that development requires input from all involved, including those who are most critical.
Speaking on the Good Morning Jojo Sport Show, Rodney said a number of bodies and factors must come together in order to run and benefit from a properly planned and executed development or grassroots programme.
“It can’t just be the association; we must have serious discussions with the ministry from the schools level because that is where it all starts. We have to also remember that when the Scotia [Bank] Kiddy Cricket dropped out, that left a serious void and I think that most of us overlooked something there and the reality is that, if you don’t have a good youth programme then you don’t have a good senior programme. If you are ticking the boxes then I would want to believe that you would have to tick a minus against the ABCA with that. That is something no one should run from but everything else, I believe you will see some very high marks so I don’t know why you would want to chop off a man’s head because of one out of 10,” he said.
Earlier this week, former players Kenneth “Flipper” Benjamin and John Archibald, called on the association to ‘get serious about youth development’ and put a proper programme in place to endure the future of the game here in Antigua and across the wider Caribbean.
Stating he has no issues with the call for a fruitful programme, Rodney noted that some of the individuals most vocal on this issue are some he deems to also be a part of the issues plaguing development at the grassroots level.
“I have had a lot of calls about who would have said what but I am not prepared to speak about things that I don’t hear except to say that Sir Isaac Alexander Viv Richards’ father, Mr Malcolm Richards, had a saying which goes something like this: ‘Let he who knows the way lead the way and go all the way’. Some of the people I understand who have been talking, they have had many opportunities but I would not want to go into that, I would just want to say that development is a holistic situation,” he said.
“We have a situation where we’re hoping to have a big meeting to involve the clubs and the ministry and a couple of other people because at the end of the day, I am sure you are aware that even a place for proper national practice and so forth presents a challenge,” Rodney added.
The cricket boss also addressed the long-standing debate over the utilisation of the historic Antigua Recreation Grounds (ARG) for local cricket and more specifically, school boys cricket.
“Many recommendations have been made but at the end of the day, if the powers that be would want to have the right people in place to make those sort of things happen then they will and that’s how I would have to put it. People like to blame the minister and obviously he would have to take the blame because he is the boss. But if you get the right technicians in the right place, unlike some people who have technical jobs but never work and who are deemed to be ghost workers, don’t do the work and just feel like if you keep sounding like you’re saying the right things but you’re not doing the right things then it’s two different things. I am just saying that if you have the right people in the right places then I am sure that can happen,” Rodney said.
Benjamin, a former West Indies fast bowler and Archibald, a former Leeward Islands player, blamed the association for the absence of development programmes for both boys and girls, calling on clubs to vote at the body’s next elections based on policies and programmes pertaining to youth development.
About The Author
– Advertisement –
