‘Give the women a chance’
Williams disappointed in Cameron’s comments
GIBBS WILLIAMS, manager of Jamaica’s Under-19 cricket team and lecturer at the G.C. Foster College of Physical Education and Sport, has said that he is disappointed by the statements made by Cricket West Indies (CWI) president Dave Cameron, who argued that female physical education (PE) teachers were hurting cricket in the region.
“I am a bit disappointed because a couple of years ago, the same (CWI) said that they had to be reaching out to PE teachers with a view to growing the sport,” said Williams, who admitted that the vast majority of PE teachers at the primary level are females.
Williams, who is the cricket specialisation lecturer at G.C. Foster College, said as someone who is responsible for imparting the knowledge to the female teachers, he thinks that despite the limitations faced, they are doing their job of exposing the children at primary school to cricket. He, however, pointed out that the WICB has a role to play in taking the sport to the next level.
“Having introduced the sport, it is the governing body ’s responsibility to develop coaches at a higher level to groom and harness that talent. I do not agree with it (Cameron’s statement) and think it is a rather unfortunate statement coming from the president,” said Williams.
Williams told The Gleaner that the teachers are exposed to a high-level programme at the institution and he believes that they are making a valuable contribution to the development of the sport.
“They would leave the programme with the equivalent of a level one certificate. One thing a can tell you is that the knowledge base is significant and they (female PE teachers) are mak ing a contribution,” said Williams.
NO ACCIDENT
“For argument sake, the parish of St Catherine primary [schools’] league, St Johns Primar y, coached by a female, are the perennial champions. It is not by accident,” said Williams.
Williams noted that 20 per cent of the participants in a recent Level One coaching group were females, and about two years ago in Barbados, CWI, in collaboration with the England and Wales Cricket Board, had the first Level Three elite coaching group, where three of the 20 were females.
“It goes to show that females can and are making a significant contribution to the development of the sport,” he added. Cameron had expressed his belief that the majority of female PE teachers are not interested in cricket and are not pushing its development at the grass-roots level.