Last Wednesday saw the Cricket Leinster Development Officers along with coaching staff deliver their annual coaching workshop for secondary school teachers. The workshop was delivered at Mount Anville secondary school in Goatstown. It was attended by several Leinster based PE teachers from schools including Ard Scoil Rís, The High School, Mount Anville, St. Andrew’s College and Wesley College.
With the unpredictable weather it was unfortunate we could not use the Mt. Anville’s outdoor facilities. The 30+ Mount Anville girls from 1st and 2nd year were split into two groups in the hall with sessions led by South Dublin County Council Development Officer & Leinster Lightening player, Kenny Carroll, assisted by Caoilfhionn Rowan (Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown Development Officer) and Cricket Leinster Development Manager, Brían O’Rourke, assisted by Amy Kenealy (South Dublin County Council Development Officer & Ireland International). These sessions were observed by the new coaches who were guided by Naomi Scott-Hayward (Leinster Coaches Association Chairperson & Cricket Leinster provincial coach). The coaches were given an opportunity to try out some of the techniques showcased, as well as have their questions answered in relation to adapting the sessions for larger/smaller numbers and differentiating for varied abilities in their schools.
The workshop focused on basic techniques along with small-sided games that can be easily delivered within schools or sports halls. These included Diamond Cricket, Continuous Cricket, Pairs Cricket, Bowling in Pairs, Target Bowling and how to set up drills for practicing the fundamentals of batting. The majority of the PE teachers were fairly new to the game and gained valuable knowledge in the different techniques involved and also gained some useful ideas regarding games for use with their own students in the coming weeks.