Cricket students from the University of Worcester have returned to the UK with lessons they’ve learned from placements in some of the world’s biggest cricketing nations.
Students on the Cricket Coaching and Management with Integrated Master’s Course get the opportunity to travel as part of their studies.
Third-year student Liam Walker spent just over two months coaching at a cricket club in Melbourne, Australia, putting his learning into practice and bringing back some lessons of his own.
“They live and breathe cricket over there,” said Liam. “As much as people here love the game, it’s doubled over there! On a day off, you’d find a match to watch somewhere, or it’s on TV at night, it’s so ingrained in people there.”
During his time in Melbourne, Liam was able to explore the way he coaches.
He said: “There wasn’t any pressure on me to do anything in a particular way, so I was free to approach my coaching however I wanted. I could be creative, and they were really keen for me to introduce my coaching style from England and use my own approaches.”
Third-year student Ritchie Harley spent around three months in Atlanta in the USA where he was coaching cricket while being involved in meetings to discuss the ongoing development of the game in the city.
He said: “Sometimes I’d be training a massive group, there could be 40 to 60 kids, and sometimes it was just 3 or 4 people and me coaching, so that mix gave me the chance to implement different activities that I’d explored but not tried or tested or implemented before.”
“I’ve taken away a lot of memories from the travel aspect of it,” Ritchie added. “Being independent, being away from home for a sustained period of time and being around completely new people in a completely new environment.”
Rhys Norman and Sam Tyler, both third-year students, travelled together to coach in Sri Lanka.
Sam said: “We ran the first girls cricket programme out there for the organisation we were with. It was amazing, for many of the girls it was the first time they’d ever held a bat and ball, and we saw how they developed.”
He said: “Every week they arrived with smiles on their faces, and we saw how their games improved. I was sad when we left, but we left them with a platform to keep going on that programme, so that was one of my favourite things we did out there.”
Rhys said: “When we were coaching some of the younger age groups, some of them didn’t speak any English so it could be difficult to communicate.”
He added: “You have to think, ‘how can I communicate this through actions, not words?’, or you’d explain what you were doing to some of the kids who knew English and they’d relay it to the kids that didn’t, so it was a challenge.”
Craig Williams, Course Leader for Cricket Coaching and Management, said: “It is fantastic to see students embracing the chance to travel as part of the course.”
He continued: “Engaging with diverse cultures and cricket environments not only enriches their life experiences but also enhances their cultural understanding, as well as their personal and professional growth".
To find out more about the Cricket Coaching and Management with Integrated Master’s Course, visit the University of Worcester website.
For information on courses at University of Worcester visit www.worcester.ac.uk or for application enquiries, telephone 01905 855111 or email admissions@worc.ac.uk