Recently elected Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) technical director Jimmy Adams will spearhead a series of national coaching seminars aimed at improving the country's existing coaches and to produce new coaches at higher standards, starting on Monday.

"Any strategy directed towards playing standards must, by way of approach, deal also with the standards of our coaches. Through lack of planning over the years, the coaching standards within our cricket structures are woefully short of where they must be if we are to see a corresponding rise in overall playing standards," said Adams, who will serve in this capacity for two years.

Tiered coaching

According to the JCA, it will be looking at a three-tier coaching-pyramid approach as it seeks to address all the island's coaching needs and ensure elite national squads have access to the best coaches.

The first tier will be a series of Level 1 coaching seminars convened across the island and the second tier, a series of Level 2 seminars.

The first Level 1 seminar will be held in conjunction with the St Ann Cricket Association at the Port Rose Sports Club (formerly Kaiser Sports Club) in St Ann, beginning Monday, March 16, and ending Wednesday, March 18.

The seminar, which will be replicated in other parishes later in the year, will accommodate a maximum of 18 coaches. Level 2 seminars will commence in September.

Annual fixture

"The JCA's objective is to ensure that this course becomes an annual fixture, ensuring that the better coaches emerging from our school and club programmes can continue an upward path while just as importantly providing our national programmes with a larger pool of better qualified coaches," said JCA president Paul Campbell.

"As these coaches return to the schools and clubs across the island, the assumption is that they will have a significant impact on the standards in their particular environment and lift the quality of players who will be migrating towards national programmes and squads, thereby allowing these national programmes to push the players even further," he added.