LEANDER BRATHWAITE was accomplished in a number of sports before adding golf to his interests.
“Leander is a natural athlete” says Special Olympics head golf coach and Barbados Golf Club instructor Jaleel Marshall.
The St Michael resident, who attends the Challenor Creative Arts and Training Centre, runs track, plays football, bocce, road tennis and cricket. His transition from the cricket bat to the golf driver has been exciting to watch.
Brathwaite took a driver in his hands at the Barbados Golf Club driving range and stepped into a series of massive swings that easily scattered golf balls over 200 yards.
The task before Brathwaite, coach Marshall and Leander’s dad, Samuel Brathwaite, was to channel all of that power from his cricket swing into a golf swing, and that has been accomplished.
After his twice-a-week practices, which involve hitting 200 yard drives and sharpening his putting skills, Leander can be heard to say, “I did good today.”
Leander says he enjoys sports because he loves to play and likes the competition, and, as a Special Olympics athlete, he likes mixing with groups of other athletes.
He feels “very good” about the opportunity to travel to the United States and to compete against athletes from all over the world, and he wants to bring back a medal.
He is one of 26 athletes selected to attend the Special Olympics World Games, to be held from July 25 to August 2 in Los Angeles, California. (PR)
