The Atlantic Coaching Excellence (Ace) Programme launched in January has finished its first phase of certification for coaches in primary schools.Developed by Atlantic in partnership with the National Primary Schools Cricket League (NPSCL) for cricket and football, the programme supports the long-term development of these sports by increasing the number of certified primary school coaches in T&T. In the near future, only primary schools with certified coaches will be allowed to participate in the annual cricket and football competitions.
For Ace's cricket component, 150 coaches participated in three-day training sessions to attain Level 1 certification. Sessions were held in all eight educational districts.Darren Holder, the Cricket Australia-certified international coach who led the sessions, recently turned over the participants' formal certification documents to Ian Ramlal, president of the (NPSCL). Ramlal said that the certificates will be distributed directly to the coaches in the coming weeks."This is going to give primary school cricket a quantum leap forward, because it will help to encourage a whole new level of professionalism in the coaches and a whole new generation of young cricketers at the under-13 level who will display better on-field performance," Ramlal said. "This can only help to fast-track development in the more senior levels of cricket in T&T."
Darren Holder explained that participants in the certification training sessions had been exposed to the most modern methods in coaching. "The emphasis of the cricket certification programme was to encourage coaches to challenge the traditional ways of coaching, and to become innovative, at the same time showing them how to create a positive and inclusive learning environment for the children," Holder said.Derek Daniel, Atlantic's manager branding and communications said that the Ace Programme was designed to support the long-term sustainable development of cricket by helping to facilitate youth development through sport. "The programme has been endorsed and supported by both the Minister of Education and the Minister of Sport, and we are pleased that so many coaches and teachers turned out to participate in the programme," Daniel said.Atlantic Sports Ambassadors Andrew Lewis and Merissa Aguilleira had the opportunity to visit some of the training sessions to provide support and congratulate the coaches on their involvement in the programme.