Patrick Henderson, Swiss Cricket Association

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On the weekend of 21st and 22nd April an ICC Introduction to Cricket Course was run which was attended by a total of nine parents/players with an interest in helping to coach the game within Switzerland - the third one at this level in as many years.

The course, run by Graeme West, who is currently Middlesex Cricket Board Development Officer, was greatly welcomed by all those who participated, not least because the large majority of these newly qualified coaches are already involved with coaching junior cricket in two of the major centres (Geneva and Zurich).

The course, which took place at the Farlifang sports centre with its excellent facilities, covered coaching points in batting, bowling, fielding and wicket-keeping, as well as many ideas and discussions relating to the coaching of younger age groups. A brush-up on rules and scoring also proved illuminating.
Graeme’s visual style of teaching, combined with the many practical exercises made the course very enjoyable for the participants, yet also transferred his knowledge in a most effective manner.
Those who completed the course were: Simon Ascroft, Ray Boucher, Richard Ernst, Christian Juchli and Jahangir Khan who are all from the Zurich area, Paddy Waller from Zug, Vijayadas, Pradeep Kumar from Olten, and Nicholas Meadmore and Peter Grove from Geneva.
As the comments suggest, the course was a great success and the input will no doubt greatly benefit the game of our juniors:

• “I thought the course was excellent and Graeme’s delivery of it was superb. I’m quite sure that the coaching points and tips that he provided over the two days will be invaluable to me in raising the standard of the game in the coaching sessions and matches.”
• “I thought the course was excellent! Graham was a great coach and I am sure everyone got a lot out of it. The hardest part is trying to remember all of the drills and games. I don't know how we can capture all of the drills and games.”
• “I can say was that it was a very worthwhile experience, especially from the point of view of understanding the players being coached.”
• “We got to know so many helpful drills and exercises. The importance of coordination was driven home during catching drills and basics which one has forgotten over the years or had neglected to correct. It was also useful to have rare points/laws regarding umpiring explained.”
• “Very helpful, informative, especially with regard to technique.”
• “I think we all had a excellent weekend. Graeme did a great job. New stuff, correcting old habits, lots of ideas and very practical. I'm looking forward to trying out some of the ideas with the kids and, to the next coaching course!”
• “I would recommend this course most emphatically to any parent/player interested in coaching the game.”

The plan is now to run a UKCC2 course as soon as possible since there are already enough with a level 1 qualification who want to progress with their coaching. This is all the more important now that youth numbers are growing rapidly at the Under 13-16 levels and the standard of the players is rising dramatically.

Congratulations to all the participants!