Cricket

Mervyn Dillon: WIPA camp focussed on fun

ST AUGUSTINE, Trinidad – Former West Indies pacer, Mervyn Dillon revealed that more emphasis is being placed on fun at the West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA) cricket camp which bowled off on Monday at three venues.

The two week camp is being held at Honeymoon Park, Tunapuna; Charlieville, Pierre Road and Vessigny High School, La Brea.

The Trinidad and Tobago player recently completed the Cricket Australia Level III course in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Several other coaches in the WIPA cricket camp which is sponsored by Atlantic also completed the Cricket Australia Level III and Level II courses.

“The most important thing for me is that they have fun learning what they are doing. Obviously across the board you are going to do bowling, batting and fielding. I just completed the Cricket Australia Level III coaching course in Miami and the Australians are moving back to an old style of learning,” said Dillon.

He continued, “There are two forms of learning – implicit and explicit learning. Implicit is where you allow the athletes to learn on their own and solve problems for themselves. Coaching has become very explicit where they tend to tell athletes what to do and how do it, so you find that when they go out in the middle they are not capable of solving problems they might encounter while playing the game.”

The veteran of 38 Tests and 108 One-Day Internationals explained that the coaching process at the camps is not rigid and the players are being given more opportunity to express themselves.

“We want the players to deal with the problems and for them to try and solve it themselves. We have taken more of a backseat role and guide as we go along. We are allowing them to do stuff, go out and play and have fun and in the process we will curb whatever major flaws in their technique we see,” Dillon noted.

He stated that the cricketers are learning the core principles of the game to ensure they have a solid platform to build on.

“The idea is to set a foundation so that when they go back to their respective schools or teams they have an idea of what is required of them from the stuff they have learnt and how to build on it. We are basically giving them the foundation, teaching them the basic stuff and ensuring that they have fun while learning,” said Dillon.

The WIPA coach commended Atlantic for their sponsorship and providing young children with an avenue where they can learn to play cricket.

“In any sport your need sponsorship and the corporate community to help out because it costs a lot to have these camps. It is always good when you have people like Atlantic coming in and being so willing to help with development. As for me knowing that Atlantic is on board it is important that we make use of the time and resources they allow us with the athletes,” said Dillon.

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