[Gulf Goans] Middlesex proposal for cricket academy in Goa

Sat, 26 Nov 2005 21:19:25 -0800

Middlesex proposal for cricket academy in Goa
NT Sports Reporter
Panaji Nov 25: The Middlesex (England) county club is exploring the possibility of setting up a professional cricket academy in Goa within the next two years. “We have been deputing our teams to West Indies, South Africa and we have noticed that there is a steep rise in the cost of expenditure as well as problems as far as safety aspect is concerned. So we have been thinking of coming up with a cricket academy in Goa so that our teams can come here from October to March,” stated Mr Phil Knappett, coach of Middlesex, at a get-together organised by Sports Journalists Association of Goa (SJAG) here today.
Middlesex have a unique coaching concept where they select their teams and depute them to West Indies where they stay there for four months while undergoing coaching programme. The players are accompanied by their family members and so sometimes the contingent number swells to 200. They first have to travel to America and then to the Carribeans and with the rise in accommodation expenditure, it has become a costly exercise of late. To cut on the expenditure, Middlesex thought of building a cricket academy in India. Knappett, who has the experience of teaching the nuances of coaching to England legend, Mike Gatting, has been to Kolkata three times and was thinking of Kolkata as the venue for the academy until he was convinced by Mr Prakash Pereira of Champs, that Goa would be a safe bet with its tourism background.
The academy will be professionally managed, Mr Pereira said adding that the state government’s involvement would provide benefit to locals. And if the project takes off, then the locals would be allowed to undergo coaching free of cost even while the Brits will be paying for the same. The academy is likely to be funded by two Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), Mr Deepak Amin and Mr Mukesh Amin.Mr Knappett today interacted with Sports Minister, Mr Pandurang Madkaikar, Health Minister, Mr Dayanand Narvekar, who is also the Goa Cricket Association (GCA) president, Mr Chetan Desai, GCA secretary, Mr Fatarpenkar, treasurer, Mr Prakash Pereira and Mr Jovito Lopes, president of Sports Journalists Association of Goa (SJAG) at the old secretariat. Later, he also met Dr Susana de Sousa, director of sports and youth affairs and Fr Wilfred Fernandes, administrator of Don Bosco College, Panaji. He will inspect the possible sites for the academy at Nerul, Tivim, Guirim and Divar tomorrow before leaving for Kolkata.
Mr Knappett said he was glad that both Mr Narvekar as well as Mr Madkaikar had shown keen interest in the project and had in fact gone out of their way to support the setting up the academy in Goa adding that he would now do everything possible to expedite the same. Mr Knappett said the focus was on Goa since it is an ideal and safe environment for cricket with the top priority being a ground of minimum 150m x 150m area with a standard pitch, facilities for three nets and accommodation of four-star status, for youngsters, adults and families. “In all, about 25 local boys could undergo training at the academy while at the same time British youth and English county cricket teams would be able to train during the October-March period in preparation for the May-September cricket season in England. Moreover, the British teams would play cricket matches with local boys and teams and a reciprocal visit could also be arranged,” Mr Knappett stated. “The proper age for local boys could be 13-18 years, though we could start at 10, which is ideal,” he pointed out. “What we need are standard facilities with basic infrastructure. We shall then provide professional training taking care of programmes, fitness training, physiological aspects, nutritional requirements and life styles. We shall undertake scientific evaluation of training with analytical data to be collected during the training. We could even think of introducing the long term athletic development programme at the age of six so that at the age of 10 the boys and girls could decide about which sport to branch off. Physical fitness is the primary requirement and we all need to train children to become good athletes first,” Mr Knappett, who is basically a coach-educator stressed.
Mr Knappett disclosed since both Mr Narvekar as well as Mr Madkaikar were very positive and had agreed in principle to back up the project he would now prepare a full report and submit it to the government. “I congratulate the two ministers for their enthusiastic and encouraging response to setting up the academy. They, in fact termed it as an exciting project which will benefit not only cricket but also the tourism market,” Mr Knappett pointed out adding that Mr Narvekar was keen that a good wicket needed to be provided since the nature of pitches is very important. Mr Narvekar, he said, had even gone out of his way in suggesting that additional land could be earmarked for the academy at the place where the international cricket stadium would come up in near future in North Goa. “If all goes well, I may come back with the project report myself alongwith, at least, one of the two London-based partners, since Mr Narvekar requested Mr Madkaikar that a meeting with all the concerned government officials be planned as the next step,” he disclosed. Mr Prakash Pereira, meanwhile, told The Navhind Times, that if at all the academy is planned in India then it would be only in Goa and nowhere else. Mr Mangesh Borkar, SJAG secretary, presented a memento to Mr Knappett. Dr Susana de Sousa, Mr Steven Britton, British fitness expert were also present.
(The Navhind Times)


This first of its kind Gulf-Goans e-newsletter archived at www.yahoogroups.com/group/gulf-goans is dedicated to Goans around the Globe and is moderated/edited by Gaspar Almeida (since 1994) and presented by Ulysses Menezes, owner of http://www.goa-world.com website.

GOENCHO ULO - New Konkani Fortnightly in Romi script
- First issue hit the stand on 24-Nov-2005.
To know more about it, contact : AMCHI BHAS PROKAXON c/o Diamond Publications, Rua de Natal, Fontainhas, Panaji-Goa. 403 001 India.
Ph. 9226287330, 9822982676 [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED]

EXPRESSIONS - The Flower Shop (Goa) www.goa-world.com/expressions/
THE GOAN FORUM www.colaco.com
SUPERGOA www.supergoa.com

Yahoo! DSL Something to write home about. Just $16.99/mo. or less

http://www.goa-world.com
http://www.live365.com/stations/61664 Live Konkani Music
http://www.mahableshwar.com/


Addresses:
Post message: [email protected]
Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
List owner: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
URL to this page:
http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/gulf-goans





SPONSORED LINKS
Gulf coast real estate Gulf shore al real estate Gulf shores condo
Gulf shores real estate Asian manufacturer Gulf coast condo

YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS



Reply via email to