- Holiday Coaching Courses - What can I expect for my child? Start Them Young
- Why playing cricket is good for your child
- Batting practice for children
- Buying a cricket bat
Holiday Coaching Courses
What Can I Expect For My Child?
For parents who wonder what their child might do on a Coaching Cricket Excellence holiday course at Ealing CC, here's a taster…
All Coaching Cricket Excellence's outdoor courses are held at Ealing CC in West London. The club is in Corfton Road, Ealing W5 and has its own car park with ample parking outside in Corfton Road and Woodville Gardens so you can drop your children off without worry. Each day of each course begins at 10am but you can register and drop off from 9.30am. Collection in the evening is at 4.30pm but again the clubhouse is always open for them to sit and have refreshments so you needn't worry about your child should you arrive a little late.
After an initial introduction and safety talk, children are allocated to their appropriate age and experience training group with the possibility of being moved up a level if their ability suggests they should be. Coaching Cricket Excellence has an excellent fully qualified coaching team including several ex-professional cricketers, current 1st XI players, school teachers, professional coaches and highly enthusiastic young players making their way in the game and each group's team leader will then take them off to begin the day's activities.
Children visiting our courses range from county youth players to those who are trying their hand at cricket for the first time. Less experienced children and those below the age of 9 as a rule will play with softballs whilst more experienced children aged 10 and above usually play with hardballs. The emphasis of each course is to enable children to learn cricket in a stimulating and fun way though we also place great store in developing the basic athletic skills of running and moving.
As such, children of all ages will find themselves doing the following activities during the course of a typical week:
- Assault courses
- Ball skills
- Catching and throwing games
- Competitive cricket games
- Technical cricket advice and drills
- Games involving movement, agility, and heaps of fun
- Splashdown (getting doused with buckets of cold water when it's really hot or even getting to splash the coaches)
- High catches with prizes and forfeits
- Making lots of friends
- Enjoying the fun of playing cricket in the outdoors
In addition, children in the senior group playing hardball cricket will have regular nets, bowling machine practice, fielding drills and lots of ‘coaching games' where a coach will umpire and offer advice during a match to really help young cricketers learn the game.
Girls make up about 5-10% of any course attendance so don't worry that your girl might be the odd one out. We also have children as young as four attend our courses and they enjoy the fun and games of the 'Mini-Munchkin' group, getting up to all manner of antics which help them to develop key bio-motor skills combined with a love of cricket.
Break times are scheduled for morning drinks at 11.30am and lunch from 1pm onwards. We don't supply lunch but have food available at very reasonable prices at the club's catering facility though you may wish to provide your child with a packed lunch too. And there is one crucial and welcome Coaching Cricket Excellence policy – WE NEVER CANCEL THE COURSE DUE TO BAD WEATHER. Regardless of whether it's raining continuously or intermittently, we will always run each day of every course meaning you don't have to worry about childcare when the weather is bad. Some parents choose not to send their children on days when it's particularly wet, and this is perfectly fine. But even if the weather means we have to spend a lot of time indoors, we still guarantee to look after the children from 10am – 4.30pm and try to entertain them with cricket DVD's, quizzes and fun games whilst taking every opportunity to get outside and play when the rain relents.
At Coaching Cricket Excellence, we strongly believe that children should have as much opportunity to play cricket as possible in an environment that allows them to experience a wide range of physical challenges. The more challenges a child faces, the greater their development not just as a cricketer but also as an athlete, benefiting them through the whole range of sports and in later life.
Peter Wellings
Coaching Cricket Excellence - January 2008
