interview with ron young...
Grass Roots to Elite: Professional Community Disability Cricket Coaching
Disability Cricket is going from strength to strength, for example, recently, the England Blind team won the Ashes on Australian soil. There are four National sides representing Cricketers with a range of Disabilities: Blind, Physical, Deaf and Moderate Learning Difficulties. County Boards across the country are developing strategies to broaden the access to Cricket for people with a Disability under the guidance of National Disability Manager, Ian Martin. The development of a pathway which mirrors that of mainstream Cricket is the target and there are currently a number of exciting projects underway to aid this process.
Coaching as always is at the forefront of these developments. Currently, a review of Coach Education resources and courses is being undertaken with a view to identifying how ECB can help Coaches access the information and skills to work with Disabled players in the future. In order to find out more about working with Disabled players, the Yearbook visited Ron Young, the Disability Community Cricket Coach in Durham.
Over the past few years, Cricket Coaching has entered a new era with the advent of Professional Grass Roots Coaches. Just as Coaching at the Elite end of the game has evolved in this way, a career pathway as a Community Cricket Coach has also emerged. It would seem consistent that if we are going to allow an opportunity to help develop skills and enthuse the players of the future, creating career opportunities for talented Coaches in the Grass Roots sector is an absolute must. This applies in exactly the same way to those Coaches who wish to work with Disabled players.
Ron Young works for Durham Cricket Board based at The Riverside Stadium, home of Durham CCC. Durham CB currently employ 8 Full-Time Community Coaches. One of these, Ron, leads the Board’s work and Coaching in the Disability sector. Ron is also the Head Coach of the England Deaf Cricket Team and works as an ECB Coach Educator; Tutor/ Assessor in the North East Region.
With Ron’s vast experience of Coaching over a number of years the Yearbook discussed his life as a Professional Community Cricket Coach.
Will ‘Ron, you currently work as a Disability Community Cricket Coach for Durham CB. Tell us a little of how you came to work in this capacity?’
Ron ‘It started a long time ago for me! Probably about 25 years ago. I’ve played Cricket for as long as I can remember as an all-rounder in the Durham Senior League as it was then, I’m not saying I was a super-star but I certainly had a good grounding in all of the basic skill needed to play the game.
Whilst I was still playing, unfortunately my oldest son Ben contracted meningitis at the age of 3 which totally destroyed his hearing. It was only when Ben was about 6 years old and had started to come to watch me play cricket that he decided that he wanted to play the game himself.
Partly because of the communication problems, I couldn’t work out how to work with Ben to allow him to develop the techniques to be able to play. I’d never been formally coached myself, so I thought it might be a good idea if I went along and learnt how to become a Coach, in the first instance just so I could help and work with Ben. At that point I took the NCA Coaching Award Course and found I thoroughly enjoyed it. As a result of this I was able to start working with Ben. At the time, the Club I played with had no junior team, so, on the back of my course, I helped establish the first Junior side at South Hetton CC.
I was very lucky as we had lots of good young players. It was very much a family club, lots of brothers playing together, in actual fact Ben’s brother started to play too. We started by playing indoor 6-aside Cricket at a big place called McEwans, we then moved onto the summer. I realised now that I really loved Coaching, I very quickly looked to go on and do what was the Senior Award in those days.
I really liked McEwans, there was loads of activity there. All of the Durham Coaches Association schemes ran from there, plus lots of other activities. At the time John Hampshire, the former Yorkshire and England player and International Umpire, managed the place. John became my first real Coaching mentor, I think he spotted that I was incredible enthused by Coaching and he took me under his wing.
Working with John I realised that Coaching is not an exact science, there is always more than one way to ‘skin a cat’! I think this was a valuable lesson for me as I learned to adapt my delivery and most importantly keep learning. I eventually progressed to going to Lilleshall to take my Advanced Coaching Award on a course run by John Abrahams and Gordon Lord making his debut as a National Coach. Working alongside those guys and others was an incredible experience and really helped me to develop very quickly.
There was a bit of twist then as my son Ben began to develop into a very good cricketer. At that time, I got involved in representative cricket and Ben played schools and County Cricket. The people in charge of the National Deaf side, the Great Britain team as was, then got wind of Ben when he was about 15 and he was invited to a trial at Worksop. At that trial I was rather taken aback by the standard at the time, as for a National team it didn’t appear to be that great.
In the bar after the game Ben, who uses sign language, talked amongst his team mates and organisers, of course mentioned I was a Coach, one thing led to another and I eventually agreed to Coach the side! And have done to this day.’
Will ‘Tell us a bit about the England Deaf side?’
Ron ‘Well over the past few years we’ve been involved in the World Cup in Australia where we finished up second to the hosts. Again, 3 years ago in India, we replicated finishing second to the hosts in incredible conditions. We’ve toured Australia and they’ve visited us, in fact, last year we played 2 Test’s, 5 One Dayers and a Twenty20 fixture against them.
Basically we have a pathway which mirrors all of the other international sides. The standard I think is now very high, I think people are very surprised when they see it. My career really has sprouted off in several directions, going from working with club and age group players to the Elite Deaf side has really allowed me to branch out and forced me to develop and adapt, which of course is hugely enjoyable but also very hard work.
Of course, I do have some tremendous help from a variety of people. We tend to train around the country and guys like Bobby Denning at Lancashire and Ian Powell at Yorkshire in the North are always willing to lend their specialist Coaching to me in the North along with the great guys at Hampshire when we are ‘down South’. Coaches are always fantastic and are keen to chip in.’
Will ‘So, down to the day-to-day work with the Cricket Board, could you tell us what’s involved?’
Ron ‘Until I was appointed I’d always been a volunteer Coach, my primary role through Coaching is to develop Disability Cricket within Durham on behalf of the DCB. At the very beginning it was like starting from scratch as formal Coaching of this kind had never been attempted before, certainly not in Durham.
The first job in hand was to visit all of the schools which catered for Special Needs and speak to the teachers there. My intent was to find out as much information as possible about the kids that I would be working with and then more information about their needs. My task was then to consider how I could adapt my Coaching and ways of Coaching to meet the needs of the kids in schools and help them to develop their Cricket.
We sought to develop a programme of Coaching that would result in Disabled children being able to play competitive Cricket in a Festival format. From this through wider work with clubs and other sports associations we developed a Player Pathway, which it is hoped will result in representative Cricket being played by Disabled teams. Of course it all takes time.
We are starting to get there however. In the area of Visual Impairment for example Ian Leathers’ appointment as a Regional Development Manager for VI Cricket in the North has allowed us to progress particularly well with his help and expertise. Through taster days and other Coaching activities we are seeking to establish a VI Club in our area which will act as a hub for Blind and visually impaired Cricketers.
With the help of EFDS I am helping to forge links between the schools in which I Coach and the local SportsAbility Clubs. These are Multi Sport Clubs and the aim is to establish Cricket within these to expose the Club members to more Coaching, in what looks set to be an incredibly well resourced environment. I hope that from these clubs we will be able to establish Cricket teams from across the disabled spectrum; this is the main focus of my work for the forthcoming year. EFDS have also supplied funding which is allowing me again to offer inclusive Cricket sessions to schools, based around the game of Table Cricket.
Will ‘Given your experience in Deaf Cricket, both as a Coach and a parent of a Deaf player, how has working with players from across the Disability spectrum challenged your Coaching?’
Ron ‘It is challenging, there is no doubt about that. The most important thing for me is to make sure at all times you retain your sense of humour. The mind set and approach that I think works best is that actually I work with young players who have a different range of learning styles and abilities. Being able to adapt and differentiate in my sessions to cater for the players need is my biggest challenge. This is no different to any other Coaching session; my aim is to develop each individual to the best of their ability.
The Head Coaches from each of the Disability National sides recently met at Headingley Carnegie and I think the some of the phrases that we talked about on the day are the keys to being able to Coach Disabled Cricketers: ‘Coach the Ability NOT the Disability, try to identify what a player CAN do and work with that, forget about what they cannot do’.
With players I have learnt not to be afraid to ask what they can do, trying to make sure I work with individuals in any session means that hopefully the players have a much more satisfying experience.’
Will ‘You’ve been a qualified Coach for well over 20 years now Ron, however you also deliver Coach Education Courses for ECB as a qualified Tutor. Given you know the UKCC1 and UKCC2, Coaching Assistant and Coach courses respectively inside out how has this knowledge impacted on your Coaching?.
Ron ‘It has had an enormous impact. The shift in Coaching over the last few years from a Coach ‘telling’ players things, to Coaches allowing players to develop understanding through questions and the ‘How to’ Coaching skills has had a remarkable effect on not only my Coaching but that of others I see.
I think the ‘How to’ skills are relevant in all forms of life really, particularly Teaching and Coaching. In the Disability environment this is even more pertinent for me, my Coaching style has changed dramatically through my greater understanding of questioning techniques, checking for understanding and being able to offer very specific feedback… they have all benefited my Coaching and as a consequence the experience players have in my sessions.
I think the manner of delivery has meant that a problem solving approach has emerged in Coaching. I think years ago there were many instances when there was only one way to accomplish something. Nowadays though I think Coaches are open to many more suggestions and work much more closely with players to find innovative, tailored solutions to challenging situations.’
Will ‘Day in day out Coaching with Disabled players, give us an idea of what it’s like to Coach like this?’
Ron ‘It’s always very exciting. I am faced with a new challenge almost daily which of course requires me to try to adapt my Coaching and challenges my ability. For example when I work with children with Autism I have to be incredibly specific in terms of my instructions and explanations.
Autistic children have a tendency to think in very literal terms so an ‘off the cuff’ comment or euphemism will often be taken by them as a literal statement. At times this can be incredibly funny, but obviously in terms of my Coaching means I have to think very carefully about what I say before I say it to be effective. Having a sense of humour at times like that is vital as I said earlier! Last week for example I was helping young lad out who was batting in a game of Table Cricket. He hit what I knew was a Dot Ball, he however wanted a run for it. I quickly retorted that he ‘needed my glasses’ if he thought that was a run. Of course he turned to me and very seriously said ‘I don’t need glasses!’ I quickly backtracked and of course apologised for the poor joke, however it was still a Dot Ball!
There are instances like that every week and of course the satisfaction is in being able to help integrate my Coaching with the needs of the youngsters in the session. I must say that in every instance there is a solution to meeting the needs of a child. It takes open and effective communication and a little bit of imagination but the challenges are always enjoyable.
What I would say is that experience equips you to be able to work with Disabled players, however I would encourage any Coach to have a go as you only gain experience once you do something! Of course there are times when I think something will not have gone as well as I would have hoped, self-reflection is a vital tool which enables me to learn and develop from these instances.’
Will ‘Tell us a little about the rewards of your work?’
Ron ‘The work I do is terrifically rewarding. There are now a new generation of kids saying to me ‘Hi Ron!’ There has been a standing joke in Durham that because I’ve been involved in Coaching for so long I sometimes struggle with names, so young men who I might have Coached years ago will say to me ‘Hi Ron’ and I have to reply ‘Hello Son!’ or Mothers who get ‘Hello Love!’ and of course the Dads that get ‘Hello Mate!’
There is now though a new generation of youngsters saying ‘Hello’. I honestly believe without the insistence of the development team under Graham Weekes at Durham these youngsters would not have been afforded the opportunity to participate in Cricket and it is very satisfying to think that hopefully through having fun in my Coaching sessions they are now actively participating in the game.’
Will ‘You work as part of a team of 8 Coaches at Durham. Community Coaching is now a career in its own right with it’s own pathway. For Coaches Association members reading this article who may want to pursue a career in Coaching, and do not necessarily want to work at the elite level what advice would you have for them?’
Ron ‘One of our roles as Community Coaches here at Durham is that we help to develop the local Coaches Association. We obviously try to work very closely with actively engaged volunteer Coaches and through our Workforce planning we are trying to make those communication pathways better than ever. The aim of all of this is that hopefully we can start to address the needs of those Coaches out in clubs.
I think for the majority of Coaches the challenge for them is to keep as up-to-date and refreshed as possible. We are looking at ways in Durham to help better resource our Coaches, however I think that all Coaches would benefit by sharing information with others, trying new ideas, discussing important topics etc. A Coaches’ local Association is the perfect forum for this I believe. I think if someone is interested in a career in Coaching they need to try to develop some real expertise in the area they are interested in and of course this means getting out and about, finding new information, talking to Coaches and Players and of course getting involved in Coaching.
It may mean formally qualifying and taking Awards however there is just as much to be gained informally too. Of course, there are jobs coming up all of the time, however for the first time ever I think people are beginning to make a real go of setting up private Coaching enterprises many of which are very successful.’
Will ‘Finally Ron, if you were to issue a challenge to those Coaches out there who may have the opportunity to work with Disabled players what would it be?’
Ron ‘The biggest obvious thing is just giving it a go. You’ll find you’ll get so much enjoyment out of the process, it really will be of huge benefit to you as a Coach but also personally I think the experience does make people better equipped to deal with a whole host of things.’
To find out more about Disability Cricket please contact your local Cricket Development Manager, details of whom can be found at http://www.ecb.co.uk/development/development-structure-and-contacts/
**
Yours in sport
Stefan Pichowski
Chairman"