Kingston Wharves Partners with JDF on Resilience Cricket Summer Camp

The camp opened Friday (August 14) at the Manley Horne Park in Junction, St. Elizabeth where the JDF pitched several tents for their accommodation for their sojourn in the parish till the camp is over.

Speaking that the opening Simone Murdock, Corporate Services and Client Experience Manager at Kingston Wharves lauded the JDF on the staging of the camp, noting the importance of helping youngsters to recover from the traumatic experience of the hurricane and to foster soft skills while learning a sport.

“Important components of the programme is about helping youngsters to recover from challenging situations and building discipline. Along with camaraderie and sportsmanship, discipline is a very important part of sport. If you have discipline, you can achieve all of the other matrices that make you a good player, a good human being and a good sportsman,” Mrs. Murdock stated.

 

The youngsters participating in the competition are also playing in the Kingston Wharves Under-15 Cricket Competition. This year Kingston Wharves is celebrating 35 years as Title Sponsors for the competition.

Captain Marlon Saunders, Jamaica Defence Force coordinator for the camp noted that the focus on resilience was aimed at strengthening the boys’ resolve to keep going in the face of adversity, and specifically after many experienced the effects of Hurricane Melissa.

He added that courage and the discipline also contribute to being resilient, noting that the camp also offered mentorship and counselling sessions especially from specialists within the JDF. Mentorship sessions are geared at helping to mould youngsters into better individuals and stronger leaders for the better future of not only St Elizabeth but Jamaica at large, noted Capt. Saunders. 

“We will also have members from the JCF and professional cricketers from the parish to participate in this programme. So it will not only be a camp where coach Bennett and his team will teach the soft skills to these individuals but at the end of the day after this session, we will have our mentorship sessions that are scheduled to help to mould them into better individuals, stronger leaders for the better future of not only St Elizabeth but Jamaica at large” said Capt. Saunders.

Coach Junior Bennett welcome the partnership of the JDF and Kingston Wharves to stage the camp. “We have two weeks to really upskill these youngsters. They are from the age of 7 to 14 so we’re going to work extremely hard with them over the next two weeks to bring them to where we definitely want them. They have been participating in the Kingston Wharves competition for years now. These youngsters are an ongoing process so we just want to instil good discipline with them as a parish who have gone through a lot since last year with the hurricane. And it’s really good to see Kingston Wharves and the Jamaica Defence Force come together to put on this camp.”

Marquino Mindley who received a Kingston Wharves scholarship in 2009 when he participated in the Kingston Wharves U15 Cricket Competition along with other cricketers from the parish will assist Bennett with the cricket aspect of the camp. The camp will close on the 28th with closing activities to highlight some of what was learned during the two weeks of intense sessions.