Looking ahead
The event at the County Ground in Derby showed a growing network of coaches ready to embrace child-first principles. By reflecting on their practice, listening to children, and working collaboratively, coaches can create environments that prioritise enjoyment, participation and long-term engagement.
“ Great coaching, whether cricket or any other sport, should always be child-first and there’ s a huge amount to celebrate from the wonderful experiences many children have had in the game,” Gregory said.
But he also stressed that there is more work to do:“ If more cricket coaches can understand what they do well, when they do it well and are open to fine tuning, adapting their practice and most importantly, listening to the voice of children and acting upon it meaningfully, then the game will benefit from more children continuing to play and having positive experiences.”
“ There’ s a network of coaches ready to put these principles into practice.”
4 Hitting the Seam Issue 46.6 47.4