Coaches to attend Level Two course

Two coaches from Munster will travel to Belfast over the next two weekends to take part in the UKCC (ECB) Level Two coaching course.

Cricket Ireland Munster Development Officer, Jim Doran, and Director of Youth and Coaching to the Munster Cricket Union, Ted Williamson will become the only two active Level Two coaches in the province on completion of the course.

The course will be conducted by newly appointed Coach Education Officer, Stephen Moreton and development officer Ryan Eagleson among others and will be attended by twelve candidates from around the country.

This is a huge step for Munster cricket as the newly qualified coaches will be in a position to provide a new level of comprehensive coaching to elite players but also provide new methods one to one and group coaching for all standards and ages of players. Attaining the Level Two award also means that Jim and Ted will be eligible to apply to become coach tutors. This means that in the not too distant future Munster will be able to run Level One courses within the province without being dependent on tutors from outside.

Recognising the importance of courses such as this for the development of Munster cricket, Ted Williamson had the following to say, “While we have to recognise the time and efforts from all the tutors who have travelled south in the past to increase our coach numbers we have to be able to stand on our own two feet and dramatically increase coach numbers within the clubs who have an interest in doing so. Each club has to recognise the fact that at some stage the young players get to a stage where they need qualified coaches to help them continuously develop their skills. Without the knowledge that these qualifications offer, the kid’s development may be slower or may even stagnate altogether.”

In order to complete their qualification, on top of the two weekend sessions, the candidates will have to complete a minimum of six hours coaching alongside a current Level Two (or higher) qualified coach who will evaluate their performance. The candidates will then complete an assessment and hope to be fully qualified by June.

It is hoped that Level One and Two courses will be run in Cork in September of this year.