Last week we discussed the players’ view on coaching in Bermuda. The discussion sparked a few coaches to offer a rebuttal to the assumptions.After listening to some of the most seasoned coaches’ observations and opinions there is validity in what they experience. Their experience in Bermuda cricket in both past and present, sheds some light on why there is a colossal difference in the way that coaching is approached presently.Just recently, our national team were humiliated in Dubai. Everyone is pointing fingers.The players feel coaches at local clubs can do more to prepare them but the coaches disagree and find that players just don’t do enough to prepare themselves and are not committed.Alan Douglas(Cleveland, Bermuda)“I have managed to stay current through my work with coaches like Bob Simpson, Daryll Cullinan and Ashley Ross. The Internet has made this easy as we can chat on a regular basis and share information. I have also used local coaches such as Clay Smith last year and Noel Gibbons with my batsmen. Some players need to learn that some of us have forgotten more of this sport than some of them know of it.“As much as some may cry out for something new, is it really? The saying there is nothing new under the sun has some merit. For example we may play Twenty20 and 50-over matches, but batting remains the same. As Sam Paynter once said years ago when I was preparing my Under-19 team: ‘When the field is in, hit out and when the field is out, hit in’.“I often use technology such as an iPod and cell phones making use of You Tube videos and I also video the players. All the tools are there for us as coaches today and I am sure many of us use them as much as time permits.“While I coached Dean Minors, Albert Steede and Darren Lewis years ago, I used to do this alone with 22 players. Today I need three coaches to do the same job. As these guys will tell you, as an educator different methods of getting the same information out today are used. Also the players come with so many more challenges. For example, some show up with eyes glazed and they are sluggish, some show up and really are not there mentally and don’t have a job lending to a laid back mindset all day. Finding jobs for some and encouraging others to get their GED are some things I continue to do to help them become more coachable.”Wendell Smith (St.David’s CC, Bermuda)Coaching in Bermuda at the senior level brings many highs and lows. Back in the 80’s when I first began coaching at this level, there was immense pleasure. Although I had several players who worked in the construction field, they came to training and gave their all.“I refer to people such as Graham Fox, Eugene Foggo and Ricky Hodsoll. St. George’s players in that era had a fantastic work ethic. You could be guaranteed that on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Wellington Oval would be a beehive of activity in the evenings. It showed in our performances on the weekends.“Fast-forward 25 years, and although the players have far more opportunities, i.e. trips to Dubai, South Africa, and international matches, very few are really dedicated to their craft. How many do you see doing extras; running on golf courses, beaches, etc? There are still some players that truly love the game but only a few demonstrate this by their commitment. There needs to be an intrinsic willingness to work at enhancing their skills. Why have a God given talent and not maximise it?”Reggie Tucker (Willow Cuts, Bermuda)“There are three key areas where our current players fall short:“1) Time keeping, if the session is supposed to start at 6.00 pm, players are turning up at 6.00, 6.15, or 6.30, rather than arriving at 5.30 or 5.45, put on their gear and being on the field so training can start promptly at 6.00.“2) Our culture towards sports is seasonal rather than year round. Once the season is over we do nothing to maintain our fitness or strengthen ourselves for the next season. Some individuals do, but as a team we don’t.“3) Training as if it is a game situation. A lot of our players just go through the motions in training. They don’t challenge themselves or their team-mates, so their standards will never rise. Some senior players don’t lead by example for our youngsters, so our youngsters follow in their footsteps.”Other coaches were asked to comment, but declined.Having been on both sides, a player and a coach, I have a clear view of what’s going on here.Coaches are truly frustrated because the modern day players simply do not take the game seriously enough. Gone are the days where I, as a coach, would sit down and plan out my sessions to make sure my players are inspired and totally prepared. Unfortunately, there are too many players today who have no respect for the game and in some cases they truly do not deserve the right to play the game at the highest level.However, to be fair some coaches are to blame as they cater to the so-called, elite player/players in their team, dismissing the principals that should be priority in the club programme.Often times these players will not train but still play because the coaches’ main priority is winning. They sacrifice the morals of their programme in an attempt to win at all cost. This has a domino effect on the rest of the players, and this is simply why half the teams around Bermuda fail to train from the beginning of the season to the end of the season, producing a very mediocre standard of cricket locally.Our national squad players should also play a bigger part in their clubs’ programme. What is learned by them at the national level should be brought back to the club level to help produce a higher quality of the cricket programme at their club. How many of the squad players maintain the standards that they have at the national level and maintain those standards at the club level? Very few if any!After hearing from both the players and the coaches it is evident that we are in need of some professional growth from both coaches and players.Players have to take more pride in themselves and their performances. Coaches on the other hand, must understand the importance of good structure and professionalism. Until we can get both groups making a collective effort to improve themselves and the standard of cricket, we will continue sliding down the cricket chain as fast as a child sliding off of a hill full of snow.