Butcher dissapointed at poor responce to seminar
By Michael DaSilva
Stabroek News
January 9, 2003
The response by local cricketers to the just concluded two-day seminar on conditioning the cricketing athlete conducted by Basil Butcher Jnr. at the GCC pavilion was very poor and Butcher is disappointed.
The Demerara Cricket Board (DCB) organised seminar, which initially catered for 30 persons including coaches, attracted a mere 10 players.
The seminar which started on Tuesday and concluded yesterday, dealt with Biomechanical Assessment and needs analysis of all positions in cricket i.e. bowling, batting and fielding; Guidelines in the evaluation and assessment of a cricketer’ Programme Design, Stretching and Exercises - Warm-up and Cool-down protocols, Corrective exercises, Stabilisation exercises, Strength and Power exercises and Nutrition and Lifestyle.
Asked how the 10 participants responded to what was taught, Butcher, a corrective and performance exercise specialist who is the son of former Guyana and West Indies star batsman Basil Butcher said “pretty positive, I got feed backs that no one in Guyana ever taught this type of thing, you see...the goal is to be able to have this institutionalised.”
Butcher who is a personal trainer, certified fitness therapist, specialist in sports conditioning and corrective and high-performance exercise kinesiologist said he is very much disappointed that no coaches or physiotherapists attended the seminar.
“They (coaches and Physiotherapist) need to be on the same page,” Butcher stated.
Asked why the turn out was so disappointing, Butcher said he learnt that the other members of the senior cricket squad said they could not make it for one reason or the other.
Butcher who has attended seminars by experts in the field, such as Paul Chek, Gary Gray, Mike Clark, Mel Siff and Charles Poliquin among others, said he sees the seminar which he conducted benefitting local cricket in a number of ways.
“If followed up, the locals will be the best conditioned athletes in the Caribbean. There will be less injuries and they will be less prone to injuries, their performance will improve, they will be stronger, faster and more powerful cricketers and in the long run, they will be better individual players,” Butcher stated.
Butcher who lives in New Jersey but is based in New York, said he does not mind working as a consultant with the Guyana Cricket Board, since he would be able to come and teach for a period and also train other persons, so that in his absence, they will be able to carry on.
“You teach a person to fish rather than give him a fish,” Butcher remarked.
According to Butcher, he gave his services to the DCB free of cost.
He said he usually comes home twice a year, once for cricket and the other for Christmas, so this time around he offered his services.
Butcher who has been in the United States for the past 22 years, is 38 years of age and has been working as a personal trainer for among others, Ellen Stein, a four-time World Masters Weightlifting champion, who at age 50 years, squats 305 pounds, dead lifts 380 and bench presses 126 pounds.
Butcher played cricket up to the under-19 level and was the junior table tennis champion of Linden.
He has been involved in the fitness field for some time, but initially went to the US to study medicine.
He completed his studies in political science at university and went into the work arena.
He said he wanted to get into something to help athletes with injuries, since he had an injury himself and sought the help of Paul Chek.
He subsequently enrolled in Chek’s class and graduated, but it was while at Chek that he decided “this is what I want to do for myself”.
Butcher returns to the US tomorrow, but will be back in Guyana for the Aussies tour.
