Title sponsor Kingston Wharves hosted a first of its kind workshop for the captains of the teams in this year’s Under 15 Cricket Competition at its offices at Newport West in Kingston.
The all day workshop was held on Wednesday with the captains who came from across that island, ahead of Friday’s final of the Kingston Wharves U15 Cricket Competition between Kensington and Westmoreland at Ultimate Cricket Ground in St. Ann.
The workshop zeroed in on the special skills of conflict resolution, effective communication and media interviews, with the intention of preparing them for the sport of cricket beyond the competition. They were also given a guided tour of the Kingston Wharves port which was well received by the young cricketers.
Kingston Wharves’ CEO Mark Williams explained that the intention is to take the captains beyond the game. “Its more than just playing the game. This is now a business and we need to make sure that the youngsters are fully prepared for the world. It means speaking well, having confidence in who they are and most important understanding conflict resolution. We will not always agree with the decision of an umpire but we must respect it, and what we are trying to do today is to just build leaders and instill good values in the youngsters.”
The first session was about conflict resolution and it was conducted by Dr. Jayson Downer, forensic psychologist, founder and chairman of Men of God Against Violence and Abuse. “I think it was important for the young men to understand that conflict is a part of everyday daily life. We mention certainly about cricket but just generally the fact they are breathing and they go about their daily routine conflict will be a part and certainly as under 15 young men they are going back into the academic school year and we see what conflict has caused in terms of violence in our schools. And so I believe the skills set here, the reminders that they have received that is very important, their approach to it, how they respond, their body language, how they assess the whole situation is crucial in terms of just any situation that might arise.”
Ryan Littleton, captain of the Westmoreland cricket team said that the sessions were beneficial to him as a captain. “If any little argument or anything we just talk to our team mate and see if we can handle and if I can’t I have to talk to the coach or manager.”
Abraham Waugh, captain of Kensington who Littleton will face in Friday’s cricket final agreed that the workshop was beneficial. “It really taught me to understand the point of views of my team mates and really take their thoughts into account as well so I feel like it will be essential for Friday’s match.“
The communication and media training session which was very lively and interactive, was conducted by noted media personality Paula Ann Porter-Jones.
Oneil Cruickshank, the cricket operations and development manager at the Jamaica Cricket Association spoke about the objectives of the workshop. He also said that it will become a feature of the competition in future years. “We would ideally would have loved if we had this at all the team levels but this is a start. What we are doing, we have identified and asked the captains to come in (for the workshop). It’s part of the building of leadership in youngsters that they are now going to go through some sessions dealing with conflict management, communication, media presentations and other areas that have nothing to do with the field of play. I think it’s very timely and I can say that it is going to be a feature of our pathways programme going forward.”
