The Tribune

WHEN Corey Edwards was appointed as the new development officer for the Bahamas Cricket Association, one of the first initiatives he felt was needed was to get the sport included into the school curriculum that will be expanded with a national youth programme.

Edwards, who has been in town since February and has already travelled with the men’s national cricket team, said while the programme is just in its infancy stage, he anticipates that it will grow bigger and better as they seek to get more Bahamians playing the sport once again. “I noticed that the men were up and running, but there was a need for the youth,” said Edwards, as he officially launched the youth programme last week at the AF Adderley Gymnasium. “So we are launching today, the official start of the youth programme throughout the Bahamas.

“I was pleasantly surprised when I went to the schools. The kids and the teachers were very keen about learning a new sport, some of them knew about it already, but we wanted the enthusiasm and that is what I was looking for.”

The initial programme was opened to students and coaches from AF Adderley and SC McPherson Junior High Schools along with CW Sawyer, Sybil Strachan, Yellow Elder and Ridgeland Primary Schools. The programme, designed for boys and girls, will play some internal matches before they play against each other.

Edwards, however, said once they get the primary and junior high schools up and running, the goal is to expand the programme to include the senior high schools. He noted that there is also a plan to include the private schools.

He thanked BCA’s president Greg Taylor and his executive and members for allowing him to begin the programme.

At the official launch, Edwards presented the physical education teachers with their starter kits after he gave a demonstration of how easy it is for them to host their games, using some of the student-athletes on hand as participants.

At least three of the students were eager about their participation in the programme.

Jasmine Moss, a 12-year-old student of Sybil Strachan Primary, said she found out that the sport is a lot of fun and it’s educational. “The fun part is running,” said Moss, who decided to get into the sport because she likes running and being active.

“I am just a fast learner. I like when I run because I like track, so it’s a lot of fun playing the sport.”

Jason Guerrier, a eighth grader at SC McPherson, said when he heard about it at his school, he decided to try it.

“I like to hit the ball, drop the bat and run,” said Guerrier, who never played any other sport. “I would like to continue playing the sport.”

And Latora Fox, a 13-year-old seventh grader, said when she was in their physical education class, they got an opportunity to practice the sport and she liked it. “I missed all of the shots, but I still like it,” she said. “I would like to go very far because I know you can get a scholarship. So I want to play it.”

Nakita Henfield, a physical education teacher at SC McPherson, said when she was introduced to Edwards when he came to share the programme, she decided to get involved.

“It’s not a core sport for us, so because it’s new, children tend to pick it up very quickly and so we will just focus on the club aspect of the sport,” she said.

“We don’t know how we will fit it into the curriculum, but we will figure that out as time goes on.

“The kids are loving it. As a matter of fact, I’m loving it. I didn’t play sports, I didn’t know anything about the sport, but since we started it, I caught on very fast and we all have been having a good time.”

Henfield said Edwards makes it a lot of fun so the players are catching on quite well.

Edwards conducts sessions for the junior high school students on Fridays from 4-6 pm, while the primary schools will be in action on Saturday mornings from 9-11 am at Haynes Oval.

It’s expected that the programme will be ongoing even when the students are on break for the summer.

Through the programme, Edwards said it’s hoped that many of the players would be able to earn athletic scholarships in schools in England, South Africa and New Zealand.

He said he hopes that there will be some players who can go on and play the sport at a professional level.

And not just in the region, but around the world.

Edwards had the opportunity to head the men’s national team that recently returned from the Cayman Islands where they played in a few T-20 international matches earlier this month.

Looking back at the performance of the men’s team, Edwards said it was a learning process.

“Looking at what happened, the future looks bright for the Bahamas,” he said.

“On that tour, we had a 16-year-old and a 17-year-old from Anatol Rodgers and CC Sweeting, who both went along to gain a lot of experience. “So really and truly, the future is bright. Let I say to all of the parents in our chat group. ‘Welcome to the future.’”