My placement is with the Ceylon Cricket academy based in Wakefield. This takes places at the QEGS indoor facility and also the Silcoates school. I am working with both the Young Lions Academy side, ages 12-14 and also the junior side which consist of participants from the ages of 8-12.
The teams I work with, train once a week over the winter in the indoor facility (off season) for two hours each time. The Ceylon Cricket Academy also holds a tour each year to South Africa, which is where some of the Ceylon academy players visited this year.
I am quite comfortable working within this environment as I have got previous experience working with groups of a similar age, as a lead coach with the H28 Cricket Coaching Academy in Cumbria. This has enabled me to transfer my knowledge of coaching and use it in this environment. As the majority of the participants are within their early adolescence and some within their middle childhood (Lloyd & Oliver, 2012) I know it is important that mobility, agility and speed are incorporated into sessions.
At the minute I am restricted to what I am allowed to do, as I am still completing my level 2 coaching badge. As this is a paid coaching course for the participants, it is important that standards are high and progression is measurable.
Roles and responsibilities within placement
- Assisting with skill based, technique based and game based practices
- Providing high levels of in action reflection and questioning to see if participants understand
- Creating game based scenarios to assist participants in different situations
- providing high levels of instruction, in the forms of con current instruction, pre instruction and post instruction
- Giving feedback throughout the session
- keeping player engagement high
Reference List:
Lloyd, S. Oliver, J. Faigenbaum, D. Howard, R. Mark, A. Williams, A. Best, M. Alvar, A. Micheli, J. Thomas, D. Hatfield, L. Cronin, B. Myer, D. (2015) Long-Term Athletic Development – Part 1: A Pathway For All Youth. Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 29(5), pp. 1439
Bruce Glendinning - Sports Coaching Blog 