SPORTS

Cricket and football combination camp:

Tough head to head competition

Getting down at the Brac cricket camp.

Diego Cunha “trying his hand” at cricket.

The Football camp group

Some sports fans at the camp pose with Diego Cunha.

Football coaches at the summer camp.

Friday,  August 26, 2005

The Department of Youth and Sports continued its series of summer camps on Cayman Brac with a combined week of cricket and football.

National Cricket Coach Andy Myles and Senior National Football Coach Marcos Tinoco took turns to lead a group of highly motivated youngsters on the field of the Cayman Brac High School during the week of 15 to 19 August.

They were assisted by Brac Sports Instructor Mitchum Sanford, volunteer Ashton Ferguson of the Cayman Brac Cricket Club (CBCC), and young Brac soccer player Fabio Smith, who was hired by the Sports Association of the Sister Islands (SASI) to help with the summer sports camps.

During sessions of football, a sport that is well established on the Island, Coach Tinoco went over the basics of the game – passes, finishes, controlling the ball and game rules – every day, before playing recreational games at the end of the soccer session.

“The kids are very committed. They’re good guys,” he said. The age range of the 28 registered players (including three girls) was seven to seventeen, which presented a variety of attention spans as well as abilities, the coach explained.

‘The high school guys are disciplined and very ready to learn. The primary kids don’t have quite the same concentration, but that is normal for that age,” he said.

On the final day of camp, they were joined by a young professional Brazilian football player, Diego Cunha, who is currently on an exchange programme through CIFA.

Nineteen year old Cunha plays for Vasco Da Gama Club in Brazil, but is currently playing for East End Football Club.

He was invited to join the Brac players for one day to share his expertise and to show them where hard work and dedication to their sport can take them.

As for the Cricket camp, Coach Myles said the sessions were mostly fun games rather than a lot of skills, since many of the kids were new to the game.

“Once you get the kids to like the game, then you can get more technical. Because the kids are not experienced with the game, they can get bored. This is all about having fun,” he said.

Although Diego was there primarily to join in with the soccer practice, he couldn’t resist having a go at playing cricket, a game he was unfamiliar with. However, he appeared to take to the game with all the ability of a natural athlete, and several times sent the ball spinning off the pitch.

“The Brac kids were very eager and we saw some definite improvement by the end of the week,” said Coach Myles.

He added that he was returning to the Island on Thursday 25 with the Under-15 National Team, which was coming to the Brac for training.

The older kids on the Brac were invited to join the team to work out with them and get a better idea of playing at a higher level.

Mr Sanford said he was impressed with the success of the camp, though disappointed with the numbers.

“From the looks of it, everyone enjoyed themselves and came out of it having acquired new skills and abilities,” added Mr Sanford.

“This is the second year that the Department of Youth and Sports has brought over professional coaches for Cayman Brac camps and it’s disappointing that only five percent of the population of school children took advantage of this.

For such a high quality of coaching staff, and the planning and preparation to provide the Brac children with quality programmes, I’d like to see a higher number next year. I encourage parents to please support these programmes in the future,” he added.

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