St.Kitt's has been a very humbling experience for the coaching staff and the Under-13 national team.

Having left Bermuda with high expectations, the team started off on the right foot, defeating hosts St.Kitt's, only to be humbled by some very indifferent performances, hence the reason we finished fifth out of seven teams.

At the end of the day, the question is how do we get the best out of these young men and what can we do to better prepare them?

Firstly, the team's bowling performance was probably the strongest in the tournament but our batting left much to be desired, which meant we often found ourselves bowling teams out cheaply but were unable to make the runs.

Sadly, I see our young cricketers falling into mental habits consistent with our senior players. Being overwhelmed by the opposition one faces is a problem that has been saturated from our senior programmes straight through to our youth level.

I am sympathetic in this case as this exposure to the international level experience was a first for most of the players. However, we must learn to believe in ourselves, and it is our responsibility as coaches to help the boys to understand that no matter how fierce the opposition may appear to be they are human and subject to make mistakes.

Let's look at our game against Barbados. Champions Barbados had been scoring between 150 and 230 runs with ease against other teams.

Bermuda restricted Barbados to 117 runs. This would be their lowest total of the tournament, and we as coaches were ecstatic, but I don't think the boys understood what they had accomplished. Instead of being fired up and using this as a motivator, they were shell shocked almost questioning themselves as to how did we do that?

The team that was fired up was Barbados and their attitude was if they can restrict us to such a total then we can surely restrict them for less. Barbados came at us hard and put us under immense pressure and never let up, thus winning by some 40 runs.

One thing we the coaching staff continue to preach to the kids is that cricket is and will always be a game that continues to teach you life long lessons. Sports in general focuses on team building, character building, analysing, decision making, respect, discipline, sportsmanship and I can go on and on. What is important for these young men who represent Bermuda is that they learn from their mistakes and find ways to improve.

Personally, I feel we as coaches get these kids too late in their development. Some of these kids are just raw talent but lack proper technique and understanding of how the game should be played.

We as a country need to find or make ways for our naturally talented kids to be exposed to more one-on-one training at a younger age.

Years ago it was ok because kids used to play everyday all day, whether it be at the field, the park, the beach, wherever, but they were constantly playing.

We have moved away from those traditions and that same mental toughness that a kid would develop from playing against older kids is just not there anymore.

Back in the day for me, I played everyday. Imagine having Dean Minors who hadn't a clue how to bowl but would come running in at full speed throwing the ball at me from 15 and 20 yards with a taped up tennis ball playing.

This all took place at Mullet Bay Park on the gravel road that had uneven bounce.

If you didn't want to bowl all day you had better get tough and bat and take a few bruises. These days our kids don't play like that and rely heavily on the modern day technology, which has its advantages, but there is nothing like good backyard fun to build one's skill set.

One thing I want to emphasise to our young cricketers who played in the Under-13s and those aspiring to be good cricketers is that your lifestyle has a lot to do with what you accomplish. This past tour we as coaches had to constantly preach to the kids about being disciplined both on and off the field.

I find that a player who is disciplined off the field is more likely to be successful on the field because when the going gets tough they normally have a calm head to deal with the matter or matters at hand.

A player who lacks discipline would normally get flustered and frustrated and is usually the one who brings a negative vibe or causes confusion amongst the team.

Overall, this annual tournament was a good gauge for our local boys to test themselves.

This group of boys should have learned quite a bit regarding their strengths and weaknesses and the standard that they aspire and need to reach if they wish to further their careers in cricket. This experience should encourage and motivate them to want to work harder to improve their game.

Words of advice: "Your success as a cricketer depends on you and your willingness to work hard at your game. The more time you put into your game the better you will be."