ECC

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Cricket youth development in Switzerland has received a timely boost with five volunteers passing the ECB Level 1 coaching course.

The numbers of youngsters taking up cricket in the country has shot up dramatically in the last 12 months, creating a need for more coaches and a more organised coaching programme.

As a result, European Cricket Council coach Dave Gelling flew in from England to put Swiss coaches through their paces at the Kantonschule Hottingen on the weekends of November 26/27 and December 10/11.

The course ran over 18 hours and was largely non-technical with the emphasis on enjoyment, basic skill development and structured group coaching. The participants were taught how to plan and prepare coaching sessions, communicate effectively and give demonstrations.

Helping out on December 11 were 12 juniors from Zurich Crickets who acted as guinea pigs for the eager coaches.

Patrick Henderson, Matthew Allen and Alexander Segert (Zurich), Jay Singh (Basel) and Hascal Gollop (Geneva) all passed the course to qualify as Level 1 coaches. In addition, Merlin Hendricks, Alex Gray and Karl Kick (Zurich) were awarded with ICC Introductory Certificates after attending part of the course.

"This is an important development in the youth programme in Switzerland," said SCA Youth Development Officer Patrick Henderson. "Attendance numbers are constantly increasing and we need to keep up with this welcome phenomenon to offer the best possible coaching.

"With the rapid progress we are making, we are hoping to field the first ever national youth teams in Swiss cricket history."

A further ECB Level 1 coaching course is being planned for next Spring with more volunteers wanting to take the qualification.