Hi All,
For those who may have missed my pre winter training message, please see below. I hope this sets out the plan for the winter training. The priority is to ensure players new to hard ball transition safely and confidently and those who are excelling at their cricket continue on that path by being challenged.
We begin our winter training at Edgbarrow School tomorrow, Sunday 7th January 2024. The 1st session only will be between 2pm and 4pm and the subsequent 6 sessions will be 12noon to 2pm.
Adam Elrick will send weekly polls via the WhatsApp group to check who is attending each week. Please do let me know as it helps plan and manage the sessions. I will not be using Heja this season.
Coaching Philosophy
My philosophy remains the same as the previous 3 seasons. Simply put ensuring players have FUN. The focus is on creating a fun, energetic, exciting, safe and participative approach to cricket. We want to help players develop a genuine love❤️ for the game rather than prioritising a winning at all cost mentality.
For those who know me, you'll know that whilst I encourage healthy competition my coaching philosophy revolves around a growth mindset and PIE 🥧
P raise - every positive development in each and every player
I nspire - motivate our young players and get them to identify what they are doing brilliantly. Celebrate and reward their successes
E ncourage- using positive language and getting players to encourage and support each other at all times.
Please support your brilliant kids and give them PIE 🥧😜
Over the past 3 years the under 11s have won The Berkshire Indoor tournament , The Berkshire Challenge League, Finchampstead 6aside tournament and The Eversley Xmas Cup last week. Their success has been built on the amazing ability of the players to ENCOURAGE each other throughout training and matches. It is not about the result but about THE LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT. Last season neither the u11s or u13s won the league and infact we lost a lot of our games BUT we aways walked off with smiles looking like the winning team because of the way players supported and encouraged each other.
It was through those losses that we did our biggest learning as a team and that is something the players have truly bought into.
Joint sessions
The first 7 sessions will be at Edgbarrow School together with the u11s. The rational for this is to create a pathway for young players where they play with similar ability players irrespective of their age. A sports hall gives us a lot more flexibility to do a wide variety of drills and training whilst helping players build their confidence.
Coaching Team
In the spring and summer I will be managing the u11s Crocodiles (Blast League) & u13s teams and Simon Breach will be managing the u11s Kangaroos (Pairs Challenge league).
Simon and I will be supported each week by the following coaches: Nick McDonagh, Sin Chandran, Ryan Taylor, Adam Elrick, Siv Sivapalan & Chris Blake.
Players can often get confused receiving mixed messages from parents and coaches so please trust the coaching team and discuss with us individually if uncertain of coaching development points.
We have limited space in the sports hall at Edgbarrow so there is no area for parents to watch. We also feel that players perform better when they are not looking over for parents approval. Could all parents please drop off their kids at the sports hall and collect at the end of the session.
Session Objectives
Each of the winter sessions have been carefully designed to ensure that we create a fun, challenging, progressive & team environment.
The key objectives include:
Fielding - developing a strong base, throwing with power & accuracy.
Batting - fundamentals - stance, grip, weight transfer, high hands and backing up
Batting - how to play spin - using the crease, getting forward
Batting - developing shot selection e.g. sweep, pull and cut
Bowling- fundamentals - base, avoiding lateral flexion, swing, pace and variation.
Game awareness/tactical - understanding the differentphases of the game, fielding positions, setting/adapting the field,
Agility & Co-ordination - developing players overall physical fitness, movement, agility and co-ordination with fun activities and games.
Whilst we won’t be “netting” for the 1st 7 weeks please can players bring their full protective kit as we would like players to train with a hard ball.
Look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow:)
Best wishes,
Vijay
u11's & u13s Coach