Coaching Report 2011 / 2012
The education and upskilling of cricket coaches is a key element of the expansion and improvement of standards of cricket in the province. Cricket Ireland has placed an increased emphasis on both the number of coaches and their level of qualification in recent years as part of its development strategy, and this is reflected in increased activity in the area of coach education in Leinster.
Four coaches from Leinster had attended the ECB Tutor and Assessor training course held in Dublin early in 2011, and a key goal for the year was to get these new tutors involved in course delivery as soon as possible. Two ECB Level 1 courses and one Level 2 course were run in the province during the year, and three of the new tutors delivered on these courses alongside more experienced tutors. The expanded tutor workforce in the country as a whole has allowed us to begin an exchange programme between provinces. Leinster based tutors have helped deliver courses in Munster and over the coming winter tutors from both Munster and NCU will co-deliver on courses in Leinster. This is a positive development – new perspectives and experiences add to the quality and variety of course delivery.
In addition, a Club Coach course was held in Belfast in January and this was attended by eight Leinster coaches. This course is a bridge between the current ECB Level 2 and the Level 3 (Head Coach). It is very good news to see so many coaches progressing up the coaching ladder, and improves the amount and quality of coaching available to our better young players. A number of Introductory courses were also run throughout the winter. These courses are especially useful for introducing young players in the 16 to 18 age group to the basics of coaching, and increase the number of people available in clubs to support the Level 1 and Level 2 coaches. Over the winter as a whole the number of new coaches at the various levels was:
Introductory 98
Level 1 38
Level 2 15
Club Coach 8
Another development in coach education was the sign-off of Brian Kelleher as an ECB Field-Based Trainer and Internal Verifier. These roles are crucial in supporting and mentoring the tutor and assessor workforce respectively. FBT & IV processes are the core quality assurance mechanism in coach education – they ensure that all courses are delivered to the correct standard, and that assessments are conducted correctly and impartially. Previously, these functions were provided by UK-based FBT/IV personnel, so this development further strengthens the coach education structure in Leinster.
The Leinster Branch of the ECB Coaching Association has been re-invigorated this year as a consequence of a number of different initiatives. The profile of our ECBCA branch has been raised by contributing to the Cricket Ireland twice-yearly Coaching Newsletter, and by an increased presence on the social media sites Facebook and Twitter. Membership has increased from a low of 14 to 34 members this year. Efforts are continuing to sign up as many coaches as possible who have qualified in the last few years, and the benefits of membership are clearly promoted at all new coaching courses – an excellent insurance scheme, newsletters both local and from ECB, technical updates and the annual handbook, local workshops, masterclasses etc. The committee of the ECBCA branch was expanded this year and continues to do an excellent job of promoting coaching and coach education in the province.