Andy Lewis Experience

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Andy Lewis Experience

Experience of undertaking ECB Level 1 Coaching Cricket

Date: 20th April 2010.

My name is Andy Lewis and I just have spent the last two weekends undertaking the ECB Level 1 Certificate in Coaching Cricket in Llandrindod Wells, Mid Wales. Upon completing the course I was informed by one of the Tutors that I was the first wheelchair user that they had delivered the course to and was asked to write about my experiences of participating on the course.

To provide some background information, as a youngster I played a lot of sport, particularly soccer, rugby, cricket and anything else that got me out of the house and schoolwork. At the age of 23 I had an accident playing rugby, breaking my neck and damaging my spinal cord, leading to permanent paralysis from the chest down. I now use a wheelchair and still enjoy watching all sport. Whilst taking my nephew to his first Under 9 cricket practice last year I met up with a friend from school who was coaching at my old cricket club and I got involved from there.

Living in mid Wales and before going on the course, I had the usual worries about whether or not the venue would be accessible. The course was advertised in our local newspaper well in advance this year and I was able to make contact with Peter Brett the course organiser to discuss my access requirements. Peter was then able to check everything out at the venue beforehand. I also contacted the venue directly and they were able to re-assure me that the sports centre, classroom and WC facilities were all suitable.

The course consisted of two days over 1 weekend starting at 9.30am and finishing at 4.00pm focussing on how to deliver coaching, two 3 hour evening workshops on First Aid and Safeguarding and Protecting Children and an assessment session on the following Saturday between 9.30 am and 2.00pm. The duration of the course was fine but when adding in the travel of 1hour each way to the venue the days were long and tiring but still extremely worthwhile and enjoyable. If anyone else is considering undertaking the course and it is structured the same as this one was then I would not plan to do too much else during the course. There was only a small amount of preparation / planning needed at home during the first weekend. The session to be delivered for the final assessment was allocated before leaving at the end of the first weekend thus allowing a week to think, practice and prepare.

Prior to going on the course my main concern related to how I was going to be able to be involved in the more practical demonstrations and activities and whether this would have a bearing on me actually being able to pass the assessment stage. On the first morning when we all got together we had an introductory session where we were all able to discuss any concerns we had. Any doubts I had were dismissed and the tutors assured me that not being able to physically deliver the demonstrations would not be a problem and alternative arrangements would be introduced.

The course involved some minimal time in a classroom setting which provided an introduction to coaching and how to coach skills. The majority of the time was spent in the sports centre actually using the how to coach skills and delivering practical sessions involving fellow coaches on the course.

The course was extremely interesting, challenging, well run and whilst introducing a lot of new information it was done at a pace that was easy to follow. We were given ample opportunity to practice and develop the how to coach skills during the course and the tutors were always on hand to provide support and encouragement. The tutors on the course Mark, Keith and Glyn were fantastic and took time to speak to me and find out what I was able to do and comfortable to participate in and then just got on with things. They were approachable and were always willing to assist if
asked.

For the aspects of the course that I was physically unable to do i.e. the demonstrations I was set other tasks which included observing fellow coaches undertaking a demonstration and then picking out which coach was delivering the best demonstration. I had ample opportunity to deliver various practical sessions over the weekend with my fellow coaches. During times when fellow coaches were
undertaking practical sessions and running the small group games which I was not participating in I was asked to observe and review how they were running the session from a coaching point of view. This meant that despite not being able to participate in the activity I always had something relevant to do.

During the course we were introduced to the ECB Coaches Code of Conduct which actively promotes the rights of every individual to participate in the game. I am pleased to say that those principles were upheld throughout and that everyone involved with the organisation and delivery of the course I attended contributed in a positive way to making it an extremely enjoyable and inclusive experience for me.

I thoroughly enjoyed the course and it has provided me with some new skills and the self confidence in my ability to assist in providing a safe and enjoyable introduction to the game of cricket for young people. Here’s looking forward to Level 2 next year.

Andy