The Genius of Richard Williams: Caribbean Leaders Should Follow
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The genius of Richard Williams: Caribbean Leaders Should Follow
By William Skinner
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| Richard Williams |
We are all spellbound by the feats of Serena Williams on the
tennis court. She amazes and graces with her superior skills and is certainly
one of the greatest Afro American women of the century and her era. Her sister
Venus is of no lesser prominence although her dominance of the sport can no
longer match Serena’s. While we accept that both of their parents have been
instrumental to their achievements, it is known that their father Richard
Williams is the great man behind these two extraordinary women.
We in the Caribbean have seen genius at work in the form of
Sir Garfield Sobers and Brian Lara in cricket. We are now seeing such genius in
Usain Bolt, the great Jamaican athlete, who many are claiming is the greatest,
in his field, which the world has ever seen.
However, we believe that the world has not yet grasped the vastness
of what Richard William has achieved with his two great daughters. We are not
going to dwell here on the rags to riches story. We are accustomed to such
things happening from time to time. What we are focusing on is the mind of Richard
Williams and making perhaps, a futile effort, to demonstrate how we can learn
from him.
First, he assessed what it would have taken to produce two players/
athletes of this level. He did not dive into a thousand books on coaching and
spent his time marveling on how others have “done it”. He created his own
seventy page manual. We are unsure as to whether he ever made it public but it
will be fascinating document to study. Rule
one for our now stumbling Caribbean Leaders: Create your own model
of development.
Richard Williams examined the field in which he was endeavoring
to take his children. It was almost lily white; there were only two blacks who
had reached exceptional heights; it was an expensive sport and there were
social and economic barriers to climb. He boldly declared that his daughters
would not be found trying to copy white players and would not become second
class citizens trying to maintain membership of exclusive tennis clubs. Nope.
He needed balls to practice and he got them from the fancy clubs and
transported them in shopping carts to the public courts. Rule two to Caribbean
leaders: Utilize easily obtained
resources and use them to propel the region to greater heights.
Having developed the skills of his daughters, he entered them
in tournaments when they were fully prepared to beat everybody in sight! He determined
the pace of their development. Rule four to Caribbean leaders: Determine your own development and be
confident enough to put your stamp on it. Do not will our region to rich
people who can buy citizenships. Richard Williams did not will his daughters to
the rich tennis country clubs.
The end result: He changed the face of tennis and has a model
that can be followed and admired by millions who never dreamed they could have aspired to greatness in, not
only tennis but any field.
That is the genius of Richard Williams that Caribbean leaders
should seek to emulate.
William Skinner is a commentator on Caribbean cultural and political matters
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