T&T captain Wayne Baptiste has credited sports psychologist Trevor James for inspiring the team to victory at the Caribbean Amateur Golf Championships, which finished at the Millennium Lakes Golf and Country Club in Trincity on Saturday.The hosts won the Arthur Zaidie (Overall) trophy, edging runners up Puerto Rico by four points, as well as the George Teale Memorial Trophy (Ladies' Open), Francis & Steele Perkins Cup (Men's Over 50) and Ramon Baez Trophy (Men's 35-49). Making his seventh appearance at the Championships and serving as captain for the first time, Baptiste accounted for the Ramon Baez Trophy with his partner Dave Rajkumar.He said that James, who has also worked with the national Under 23 football and junior athletic teams, made a big impact on the players after joining them three days prior to the event and holding meetings at the end of each day's play.
"In T&T, we hardly play enough four day tournaments as compared to Puerto Rico, who I think are mentally more advanced...However, Trevor managed to keep us all focused. He told us that we needed to play in the now -shot by shot-and not in the past or in the future. That assisted the players tremendously."Baptiste also cited "excellent" discipline, good camaraderie and the support of coaches Chris Richards and Ricky Campbell as well as manager Robert Costelloe and assistant manager Nigel Aqui as reasons for the team's success."It was very tough. We had a team with both young and mature players and to blend them together to win was a great achievement. The team worked an acted together. There were ups and downs but everyone came through when they needed to."Baptiste, who represented T&T in football from 1984-1988, added that he hoped the team's accomplishment would serve as a catalyst for the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs to lend more support to the sport."In T&T, we play golf. In Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, they live golf. They have the financing to do it."
