Malteenoes Cricket Academy

In 1992, Mr. Michael Welch who was at that time the General Manager of the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company, negotiated and secured a grant from Northern Telecom and this enabled the Club to construct the accommodation on the ground floor of the building for housing the proposed Academy. With the blessings and support of the Guyana Cricket Board, the Malteenoes Cricket Academy was launched in July 1993 in recognition of the Club’s motto “Our Youth, Our Future”.  It was inspired by the fact that cricket in Guyana and the West Indies seemed to be a game where the basic skills, knowledge of the game, confidence and pride were being taken for granted in all quarters with no apparent prescriptions nor blueprints for remedial action.  Our principal intention was to add to the national grid at least 150 young proud confident individuals on an annual basis. Over the years, while there was a lot of talk about setting up this type of institution, it may be pertinent to note that the Malteenoes Cricket Academy was the first of its type in the Caribbean and this Hemisphere. The Academy caters for any young cricketing enthusiast (male or female) from anywhere throughout the 83,000 square miles of Guyana, between the ages of 8 – 16 years and classes are conducted during the months of July and August over a period of 4 to 6 weeks. Over the last few years, we have even accommodated students from overseas who were on their summer holidays. Snacks and meals are provided on a daily basis to all participants and for the applicants living far outside of the city of Georgetown, accommodation is also provided and during the last three years we had participants from some of the remotest areas of Guyana. All meals are prepared and served on the premises and only water from certified sources is used. The resource personnel are principally high-ranking members and officials of the Guyana Cricket Board, former and current Guyana and West Indies test cricketers and leading cricket historians, certified coaches, senior health officials, university graduates, and statisticians. Some of famous faces who given their services to the Academy include Clive Lloyd, Gordon Greenidge, Colin Croft, Charlie Stayers, Kenneth Benjamin, David Williams, Reds Perreira, Clyde Butts , Roger Harper, Ron Legall, Joe Solomon, Anthony Gray, Dr. Winston Mc Gowan and Dr. Lindley GeBorde. The staff of the Academy is made up of the Coordinator, Assistant Coordinator, Director of Food and Nutrition, Social Skills Director, three kitchen assistants and the Dormitory Superintendent.   The programmes are geared so that morning sessions are essentially for theory while the afternoon sessions are for practicals.  Audio-visual aids are used intensively and handouts are also distributed. The course content covers the history of the game, social & life skills, communication, motivation, cricket rules, scoring, strategies, physical education, care and use of equipment, nutrition, sports & drugs, dealing with S.T.I’s & S.T.D’s, introduction and use of computers, bio mechanics, public speaking and the opportunities available through sport. All cricket gears and equipment are supplied by the Academy. The application fee is usually about $2,000.00 per participant and this covers all meals, refreshments and water utilized during the training period.