ECB Coaches Association links Hitting the Seam Issue 37 | Page 19

quality sessions that make
the players want to come back
each week. Gone are the days
of the coach setting out session
plans weeks or months in
advance. We need to be skilled
and adaptable as a coach to
run sessions based on what
the players need and want to
work on.
I am also now fortunate enough
to be part of the ECB Coach
Educator team within
Lancashire. This allows me the
opportunity of enthusing the
next generation of coaches and
of spreading the word about
never stopping learning. I can
only do that by continually
learning and developing myself,
which I get to do through the
CA and ECB.
What a journey to date! For
that I’m grateful, and I’m excited
to see what experiences the
next 10 years of my coaching
will bring.
Naomi features in Wings to Fly 14.
Patricia Hankins
National Conference is growing
every time, which is absolutely
fantastic to see.
As a female coach I often get
asked: ‘So you just coach
women then?’ My reply is ‘No, I
coach cricket.’ It doesn’t matter
to me if my players are male or
female, they are players who are
attending sessions to get better
and improve their skills. It is up
to me as a coach to plan my
sessions effectively, so every
player is included yet
challenged, irrespective of
ability or gender – to me, that
is coaching.
I feel passionately about
strengthening grass–roots
cricket, improving the
recreational game through
Patricia: When I first started
coaching, at local schools, I
used to love hearing the children
say, ‘Oh wow, it’s a girl coaching
us today!’
That was in 2006, and the
children were so shocked
because women’s cricket wasn’t
as popular as it is now.
Ten years later I was embarking
on the Coach Educator
Development Programme as
well as the ECB Performance
Coach course. I knew it was
going to be a full-on year but I
wanted to develop myself as a
coach, putting myself out of my
comfort zone to become a tutor
who helped people to become
a coach.
In October 2016 my
responsibilities changed and I
love my new role; I am looking
at developing women’s and girls’
cricket within Northamptonshire,
as well as our coach education
programme.
Naomi Aspin
It’s great to see so many girls
taking up the sport and striving
to improve as players – and
coaches. So many are wanting
to give back to the sport by
gaining coaching qualifications.
Northamptonshire ran three
Coach Support Worker courses
and two Certificate in Coaching
Children’s Cricket courses in the
first four months of 2017, getting
six females qualified as Coach
Support Workers and five as
coaches. I thoroughly enjoyed
tutoring on these courses; I felt
proud to tell everyone what I
have achieved in cricket over the
years and what experience I
have gained.
I recently delivered the Cricket
for Teachers: Primary course in a
school that is dropping rounders
for cricket. They put nine
teachers through the training
and it was great to work with
people who are new to cricket
but are excited about the future
of the game.
Since I gained my first coaching
certificate the women’s game
has grown massively and more
females are playing and working
within the sport. I will continue
to do my best as a coach and
coach educator and look
forward to developing cricket in
Northamptonshire.
This Coaching Life
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