The Teesra

Category: CPD

continuing professional (or personal) development

  • Jimmy for England — what makes a “coach”?

    Jimmy Anderson’s announcement of his retirement from Test cricket was greeted with a suggestion that he should immediately be taken on as a coach-mentor with the England Test team.

    Earlier in the year, Rob Key stated that he believes Andrew Flintoff could be the next Head Coach of England. And Flintoff will be Head Coach for the Northern Superchargers in the Hundred this summer.

    Anderson and Flintoff are both great cricketers.

    But what does the suggestion that both could be fast-tracked into senior coaching positions say about the standing of professional coaches in English cricket?

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  • Online coaching & coach education — can we do better?

    I followed the proliferation of “online coaching” during the first COVID lockdown in the UK in 2020 — a lot of online demos, and quite a few “Me-Me” posts (“look at me — me!”).

    For all the online “coaching”, it is, of course, impossible to tell if there was much actual learning. And no evidence, to date, of any development in online coaching beyond a straight replacement for face-to-face instruction & demonstration.

    Surely, we can do better?

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  • How do coaches learn to be better coaches?

    When I first I qualified as a coach, back in 2009, I was told “get your coaching badge, then go and do some coaching.”

    It felt odd, having just completed a “taught” course, but it seemed almost a recognition of the failure of coach education to actually teach the new coach what they should do.

    It’s as if the coaching qualification was just a license to practice, rather than a preparation for (coaching) life.

    But what is wrong with coach education? How do coaches learn?

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