Category: CPD

continuing professional (or personal) development

  • Adapting jail-break cricket for YPA

    On Saturday I attended an ECB CPD workshop, Training & Interventions for Young People & Adults (YPA).

    As part of the workshop, we each had to devise a training intervention.  I came up with this – derived from the jail-break cricket game.

    For a group of U17s, moving from 20 over to 40 over (or longer) format; challenged by the need to bat for longer periods of time without sacrificing scoring opportunities.

    Batting in pairs, batters have a limited number of “lives”; lose them all, and the innings is over; gain more lives by hitting the ball to a designated target zone (analogous to the JBZ). (more…)

  • CPD review – 18 months on

    Back in the autumn of 2014 I attended a series of CPD workshops, delivered by Dan Feist (Essex CB) and Richard Hall (then with Surrey CB) – ECB Coaching Children, for level 2 coaches.

    Still waiting for the “Diploma” schedule – the opportunity to convert the workshops into a recognised coaching qualification – but the workshops were certainly interesting & thought-provoking.

    As with any CPD, however, attending the course is one thing, but what really matters is post-training “D” – was there actually any Development in coaching practice?  How much of the workshop content have I actually managed to put into practice?

    (more…)

  • Changing the world, one small movement at a time – #thewinningdifference #ECBCAConference

    Across the ECB CA Conference, several of the presenters spoke about the opportunity (and need) for coaches to make a real difference at the participation level – we were exhorted to be “the difference that makes a difference”; we were told that “thinking differently [was the key to] performing better”.

    Frank Dick even challenged the assembled coaches to each come up with a way to become that “winning difference”.

    As a Community coach, I think I might have found one – to try to develop in “my” players what Fuzz Ahmed called “skill ability” – the ability (mental and physical) to learn new skills – and, more specifically, to help them to develop the physical competencies needed to train to participate at any level.

    (more…)