Cricket West Indies will soon begin the procurement process for its planned High Performance Centre in Antigua, with requests for proposals expected to be issued shortly for several key components of the project, Chief Executive Officer Chris Dehring has announced.
Speaking during a symposium hosted by the Antigua and Barbuda Intellectual Property and Commerce Office (ABIPCO), Cricket West Indies and the University of the West Indies Five Islands Campus, Dehring said construction is expected to begin in the near future as the regional governing body advances plans to establish a world-class cricket development campus.
“We start construction very shortly,” Dehring said. “In fact, RFPs are going to be going out from our offices to a high-performance center, indoor center, a television broadcast [facility], and we’re going to be building a hotel.”
While Dehring did not provide a completion date for the project, he outlined an ambitious vision that extends beyond athlete training.
The development will include a high-performance training centre equipped with sports science facilities, an indoor cricket centre, television broadcast infrastructure and hotel accommodations to support visiting players, teams and supporters.
Dehring said the campus will also feature a full-time Cricket West Indies Academy, where students will combine academic studies with cricket as part of the curriculum.
“In fact, I was driving by the stadium one day… and found out what a professional cricketer in that league was earning,” he said, arguing that cricket now offers viable career opportunities for young people beyond simply playing the game.
Plans also include an interactive “West Indies Cricket Experience” museum that will use audio-visual technology and artificial intelligence to tell the story of West Indies cricket and its role in shaping Caribbean history.
Dehring said the investment is intended to position Antigua as the leading destination for elite cricket training, rehabilitation and sports tourism.
He argued that Antigua holds several advantages over competing destinations because of its concentration of cricket legends, established facilities and rich sporting heritage.
The Cricket West Indies CEO noted that the project comes at a time when demand for high-performance training centres is growing internationally, creating opportunities for Antigua to attract athletes, teams and cricket academies from around the world.
No timeline was announced for completion of the development.
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