Office of the Principal, Bridgetown, Barbados. 24 April 2017: The University of the West Indies (UWI) Open Campus and the Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) Marooners recently partnered to offer a high-level Cricket Scouting Camp to young cricketers from throughout the Leeward Islands from April 20 to 25, 2017 in St. Kitts & Nevis. Other participants at the cricket camp included UWI Open Campus students from the Eastern Caribbean, who will participate in The UWI Student Games this summer. This inaugural event from the Open Campus marks a firm commitment by the Campus to the development of youth and sports across the region. It follows on the success of a similar scouting camp hosted by The UWI Cave Hill Campus and the CCC Marooners in St. Kitts in 2014, which resulted in the award of four UWI scholarships to participants who demonstrated athletic and academic promise.
The recent camp in St. Kitts was ably led by former West Indies Captain and current CCC Marooners Coach, Floyd Reifer, with support from Leeward Islands Territorial Development Officer Junie Mitcham, former West Indies Cricketer and current Manager and Coach at the Len Harris Cricket Academy Keeth Arthurton, and Coach of The UWI Open Campus Student Games Cricket Team, Charlton Ali.
The 26 young men from St. Kitts & Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Maarten, Montserrat, St. Lucia and Dominica, had a strong start with the first two days devoted to intense training, designed to assess and develop their batting, bowling, wicket- keeping and fielding skills. Afterwards, they took to the field to demonstrate what was learned through practice matches. On the final day of the camp, the participants had a chance to view footage of their work over the duration of the camp and analyze both areas of strength and areas that require further development. The enthusiasm for The UWI Open Campus and CCC Marooners Cricket Scouting Camp throughout the Leeward Islands is a clear indication of its value to the development of the sport as well as the desire among the region’s youth to develop their skills in cricket and grasp opportunities to further their studies at The UWI.
This year’s Scouting Camp would not have been possible without the commitment of funds from The Office of the Vice-Chancellor of The UWI to cover all accommodation and meals as well as generous sponsorship and support from the St. Kitts & Nevis Ministry of Sports; the Len Harris Cricket Academy; Sugar Bay Club Hotel; the St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots; Carambola Restaurant; The St. Kitts Nevis Anguilla National Bank; MacPennies Ltd.; Scotiabank St. Kitts & Nevis; CIBC First Caribbean International Bank St. Kitts & Nevis; Rams Trading Ltd.; Carib Brewery (St. Kitts & Nevis) Ltd.; TDC Group of Companies; Karibhana Trading Ltd, Stylejerk Photography by B’Jorn Bass and The St. Kitts & Nevis Information Service. This partnership went a long way towards enabling a rewarding experience for all who hosted and participated in the Camp and has provided a strong foundation upon which to build future UWI Open Campus and CCC Marooners Cricket Scouting Camps.
