Getting athletes fit is Williams’ business

Fitness is vital to a professional athlete, including cricketers, says V.A Khevyn Williams, the coordinator of sports science at the Everton Weekes Centre of Excellence.

“If an athlete is not fit, they are unlikely to execute their technical regime without fatigue. We who are involved with sports science believe fitness prevents injuries. The fitter athletes are, they are more likely to perform their technical regimes over and over without fatigue, therefore it is imperative that our athletes are up to a certain standard,” Williams told Barbados TODAY.

One of Williams’ tasks at the Centre of Excellence is to conduct the fitness program for the Under-13, Under-15, Under-17 and Under-19 cricketers, the female cricketers and the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) Development Contract players.

“I am with the Everton Weekes Centre of Excellence, so I am working with junior cricketers, the ladies and the development contract players.  They are pretty new to the type of aggressive approach I give them. What I am doing is working on their movement patterns and getting them to an entry level of fitness. They are kind of shocked by it. During the lockdown, we were doing virtual conditioning sessions, the players logged in on their computers from at home. These sessions went pretty well, especially with the younger ones,” Williams said.

He explained that when the sessions were being conducted virtually, no equipment was used because the players were at home. The sessions have changed now they are being held at Kensington Oval again.

“When the sessions were virtual, we did not use any equipment, the players were within the confines of their space and could not go outside, I had to program them for that. Now that we are back on the field, I have them doing stuff so that they can recover and repeat. Cricket is an intermittent sport, I need to track their activities and recovery, so they do a lot of stuff. I am reinforcing a specific type of warm-up, making sure that the guys are prepared for whatever activities they are going to get into. They are now very familiar with this routine. I don’t even have to be there for them to do this specific warm- up. They know we are going to do some explosive work, endurance work and maybe some agility stuff to get them prepared for their cricket scenario,” Williams said.

  The sports scientist who worked with the West Indies Under -19 team at three International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cups, said his goal is to assist the young cricketers at the Centre to become professional sportsmen at some stage in their life. Therefore, he follows closely the fitness regimes of Cricket West Indies (CWI).

“I prepare them for the testing which includes the quarter-metre sprint, the yo-yo test. I do this, so that when they get to the first-class or international level it is not going to be a shock to their system. I am aware that as the administrations of CWI changed, they might tweak a little what their goals are in respect to fitness. I certainly want to know CWI’s view on fitness at all times so that when our players are selected to represent the West Indies there are not surprised at the fitness regime. I definitely want to make sure that everybody is aware of the testing regime of CWI whether they are senior or junior cricketers,” Williams said.

He explained the yo-yo test which is administered for Test cricketers. “Test cricket is played over five days. Cricketers should have a level of aerobic fitness for it. The yo-yo test gives me a gauge of a player’s aerobic fitness. There has been a big debate on whether it should be a test to determine if a player should be selected. I am not going to say yea or nay on that at the moment. What I will say is that cricketers should have a level of aerobic fitness. If that is what the sport desires, then cricketers should make sure they are up to that level.”

His love for sports is what drew him to sports science. Williams played hockey when he was a student at Combermere and represented Barbados as a centre forward in the sport. When he was studying for his Masters in physiotherapy at Sydney University in Australia Williams played hockey at a high level.

He was always keen to be involved in cricket, his father the late Vernon Williams was a long-standing treasurer of the BCA.

“Cricket is the most organized sport within the Caribbean at the moment. I have had the opportunity to watch cricketers go from the cradle to professional level. I was always interested in the game from a young age, and was keen to make sure that I got involved. I have been to three Under-19 World Cups with the West Indies’ team and have seen some of those juniors go on and play at the highest level. Now that I am more grounded at home, I am very happy. There is a saying that home drums beat first, I want to make sure that all of our cricketers have the opportunity to make it to that highest level. My father was very involved with the BCA, so that is double inspiration for me to do something that would make him proud of me,” Williams said.