Fields giving back to basketball youths

Barbadian Michael Fields has taken strides to not just coach some of the local basketball talent, but he has also made efforts to aid them in gaining opportunities to study overseas and competitively play the sport they love.

Local basketball has taken a solid hit due to COVID-19 and the restrictions placed on competitive contact sports, however turning what was an emergency family visit home into a positive push, Fields is working with young basketballers to lift the level of the sport.

“Realistically I am Barbadian-born, but I coach in the UK. I only came back home last year because my mum was not 100% and with the lockdown, I did

not leave when I had planned. Most of the people I played with when I was younger, they encouraged me to coach some of the youngsters.”

Fields, a Level 3 qualified coach in the UK and Level 2 in the US, has coached Luton Basketball Club, Junior National League and County Basketball in the UK. He admitted that Barbados had some very skilled players from what he had seen so far, but the restrictions and little basketball on the island had hindered him seeing much of it.

“I have been working with these guys for about five months. There is a lot of talent in Barbados but because of the lockdown and schools not being open, I personally have not been able to see a lot of the guys so most of them have been referred to me,” he said.

“With the restrictions they are not permitted to play basketball in the country because it is contact, but what I do is not contact. They are fully distanced and are spaced as they are tested for COVID-19 and I am vaccinated to not put them at risk. We train Mondays Tuesdays Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, weather permitting.”

Regarding the players that he had worked with, Fields, who has been in Barbados since 2020, said that some of them had already accepted opportunities to play overseas, including Primus Walrond who is at Western Oklahoma State College, Carl Thorpe Jr. at Western Nebraska, along with Kemar Benn. In the last couple of months, others had travelled to Florida, Wisconsin and Atlanta.

A former Barbados Junior National player, Fields had been training some of the youngsters at the Dover basketball court before speaking with the media. Kaliel Austin, a sharp shooter with decent handles, along with the forward Tré Ward, both talented players who have played for the Combermere School, were soaking

up the knowledge and teachings that the coach was handing out. According to the coach, most of the players were in secondary school, college and The University of the West Indies and along with his friend Henry Taylor from the UK, they were getting the guys prepared for scholarships.

“I am a development and performance coach, so I have been preparing them skills wise, shooting skills including shot mechanics, footwork, agility, just to get them

to be able to perform on a high level. I have not been here in a long time, but I think there is only one other person who does this here and I believe that these kids need this in order to perform. It is not that I do not think they can perform but to perform at a higher level, they need to be doing more stuff like this on a regular basis.”

Fields added that the local ballers had the potential, but they needed to be moulded and to have the right attitude and mindset implanted in them. He explained that lots of athletes are very laid back and when you have to push them hard, it is new to them.

“You get some hesitancy sometimes and you have to say, ‘Come on guys, you have to work hard.’ When you get abroad, those kids out there are on a different level, they see opportunity. We are trying to find opportunity, but they already see it and work hard for what they can see. When you cannot see, it is difficult, you find it hard to work towards it. Abroad the opportunity is right in front of them; every time they turn on the television they see it, it is in front of them.”

However, the coach highlighted the need for a balance between sport and academics, saying that players needed to understand the importance of studying and getting good grades while they play.

“It is a key aspect to not only get involved in the sport, but also academics are very important. If you are talking about getting these guys to go abroad, academic wise, you have to learn. You can ask these guys, I focus a lot on academics, if I can get them to balance that, they have a better opportunity. When you get there, and you do not have an education, they do not care how good you are, they will send you back, bottom line,” he said.

Fields also said that he spoke with Francis Williams, the President of the Barbados Amateur Basketball Association (BABA) and the official had said that because of COVID, there are lots of things that could not happen with the sport, but would endorse the things which could.

“I am very surprised we do not have a home for basketball. Over the years, back in my day, basketball was a big thing in Barbados. It had a big following, we used to play in the YMCA. I am surprised more of the older guys have not invested more of their time to the youngsters to keep the sport to that level. You have one or two that try, but there are a lot of older guys that mean a lot to the sport that these guys could learn from. I am quite surprised it has gotten to that level that there is nobody around. I have a good relationship with Terry Inniss and I know he may refer more players to train. I think we can get to the right level if we can get the children interested in playing. Iantam Alleyne has come down a couple times and gave me a hand. Adrian Craigwell does work with Station Hill, they also do work at the YMCA. A few of us, we will try our best,” said Fields. (AS)