by JOHN BOYCE
HE SET UP ONE STUMP in his backyard and challenged his son to hit it while bowling.
MONDAY
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When Jason went to Grenada to play at the Under-15 level, his father was there. And the same held true when he was selected to the West Indies “A” team. They travelled to St Vincent, and Ronald was there also.
“I don’t need to go to Australia or any of those other countries now and jump up and shout. I did my part and gave him that support base that he has now built on. I did my part.”
However, he said not everyone shared this sentiment.
“Some people get angry with me because they feel that I should be more boisterous in my support for him, but that’s not necessary. That is out of character for me.”
He spoke fondly of enjoying cricket with Shane Dowridge’s father, Arleigh, as they sat giving their sons moral support through the years.
He recalled coach Dexter Toppin’s adamancy as he told him one day: “Don’t worry, Ronald, Jason is going all the way.”
Ronald said he knew Jason had it in him to make it big, but he always said a silent prayer that it would materialise.
“I am generally a quiet person; I don’t fuss about much. When people introduce me they say, ‘This is Jason Holder’s father’. Though that is true, I am still Ronald Holder.
“I want people to appreciate me for me and not because I am Jason Holder’s father. Ever so often I am at Kensington just sitting watching cricket and few people know that I am his father.”
That, he stressed, has its advantages.
“You get to hear how people feel about particular JASON HOLDER’s brothers Andre (left) and Cody.
(GP)
the wicket.
started West forced fastened it Jason to hit him on student their told Rowans expressed couple sports.
football’ entered bowler, batsman, first ball strived at are If that were not enough, he sweetened the by putting 25 cents on top of it and told him the money would be his each time he hit the wicket.
But as the “quarts” in the money bag started to rapidly diminish, Ronald Holder, father of Indies cricket captain Jason Holder, was forced to hatch another plan.
He tied a string to a cricket ball and fastened to a tree branch, and challenged young Jason it and control the ball as it swung back to him each occasion. Jason, a primary school student at the time, did just that.
Special talent
with This left no doubt in Ronald’s mind that his had a special talent.
For quite a few years it was Ronald and his – Andre, Jason and Cody – after he and first Denise got divorced. Jason was three years old at the time.
“I would take them to school and go back for them on evenings since I was the one with the transportation.”
Ronald remarried in October 1999 to Lynda, manager of marketing and corporate communications at the Transport Board.
“Lynda played a very important role in their lives. She helped me a lot,” the 58-year-old told the DAILY NATION as he relaxed at his Rowans Park, St George home.
It was around six years old that Jason expressed an interest in playing cricket.
“This was a little strange since no-one in the family played cricket. I never played cricket,” said Ronald.
But not wanting to dash his son’s desire to realise his dream, he got him enrolled in the Empire sports club. Jason stayed there for a couple terms. His mother then got him in at Wanderers.
cricket,” to
DAILY
in raising them. I love them,” Ronald said, as he glanced through the window reflectively at the beautiful view around his home.
Andre, 29, the eldest, and six feet, nine inches tall, excelled in basketball and secured a scholarship at a university in the United States. He studied there and is back home working at Foster & Ince.
“He is Jason’s right-hand man.”
Cody, Ronald’s last son, is 12 years old and a student at Harrison College.
The quiet and reserved manager of a City business said he never liked the limelight.
“I always tell people that I grew the seed. I was there from the beginning in his formative years. I bought all of his gear when he was at primary school and made sure that he got to every game. As he moved on to secondary school, every Herman Griffith game I was there, giving him full support.”
He said there wasn’t a coach at that level who did not know him.
“The same, however, is not true at the West Indies level, because at a certain point I stepped back since the upfront support system no longer became necessary.”
Ronald never missed a game on weekends when Jason played at various grounds around the country. “Even when Cody was a baby, he and I would be there on weekends.”
But this support for his son did not stop at the domestic level.
situations and decisions. It’s only when someone who knows me comes around and they say who I am that it becomes known then.”
He does not want to ride on his son’s success, stating that the achievements should be attributed to him (Jason).
Ronald is unfazed by negative comments made about his son relating to any on-field moves the skipper makes that the crowd may not deem to be “the best decisions”.
“It’s cricket and everyone is entitled to his own perspective. It’s par for the course.”
His hope is to see Jason’s name inscribed alongside other West Indian greats when his career comes to an end.
Several hobbies
“I would love to see it next to Desmond Haynes, Malcolm Marshall or even Sir Garry.”
Apart from hailing for his son and the West Indies team, Ronald has several hobbies.
“I love photography and am a member of the Barbados Photographic Society. I am also an avid fan of model aircraft and have been flying them for many years. On weekends I go with friends and we enjoy this pastime and relax.”
He is also a certified scuba diver and a grandmaster at the Barbados Rifle and Pistol Federation shooting range at Waterford.
He also fancies himself as a builder, pointing to a fish tank stand in his home that he built. He and his brothers are in the process of renovating their mother’s home.
Was a natural
“Jason was a natural when it came to sports. At the primary level he played ‘a little football’ and basketball. This continued as he entered The St Michael School.
“I always felt that he would be a good bowler, but Jason always fancied himself as a batsman, though he liked all aspects of the game,” Ronald said.
“After he made the double-century in the first Test [against England], my neighbour David reminded me of the constant knocking of the on the string for hours at a time as Jason strived to improve his batting while still a student at secondary school. He told me: ‘I always knew he would turn out to be a great’.
“My three children are inseparable. They are very loving boys and I never had any trouble
DYNAMIC DUO: West Indies captain Jason Holder sharing the ecstasy of the moment with his father Ronald Holder at
Kensington Oval on Friday after his team beat England in the second one-day international. (Pictures by Lennox Devonish.)
Stepped back
offer his son his sons wife old the Wanderers.
RONALD HOLDER
(right) and his friend Kenneth Jones cheering on Jason Holder and his Windies men at Kensington Oval last Friday.
that
