Industry news

Coaching future heroes

Did a disgruntled newspaper reader who blamed a flawed schoolsport system for the sudden collapse of the Protea cricket team in the home test series against Australia, make a valid point? A reader wrote in a letter to the Sunday Times that the test losses by the Proteas, after winning in Australia, showed that the we lack the skills to be a consistent winning team.

At the heart of the battle is the school sport system, he wrote.

The majority of those involved are more concerned about the results between their respective schools than what it takes to develop long-term champions… the mindless pursuit of results involves rigid training within a team environment with a single objective — win a match every weekend. Minimal focus on individual skills development is only exposed when teams reach international level and battle to compete consistently due to technical deficiencies, says the Sunday Times reader.

The development of champions requires a more holistic focus on the enjoyment of sport and individual self-esteem. The short term poaching of players to mindlessly win matches with almost the only interim being to market a school, is often at the expense of the child and not in the best long-term interests of SA sport, declared the frustrated cricket lover and author of the letter.

Research by the Human Science Research Council (HSRC) on behalf of Sport & Recreation SA (SRSA) showed that the experience of sport at school is the most significant factor that determines whether you will do sport later in life. Therefore, every young cricketer who stops playing the game because he does not enjoy it any more, or cannot get a place in the team, is lost to the sport for ever.

As seen in the previous article (see Cricket heroes DO sell bats), young players follow the lead of cricket heroes who conquer their opponents with bat or ball — which will not happen if future players lack the skills. In addition, the national euphoria when a national sporting team is doing well spikes interest and greater participation — and more equipment sales. But, when a team is performing badly, interest wanes.

School sport bad for game?

Is the newspaper correspondent therefore correct that the school sport system could be detrimental to the nurturing of future cricket heroes? Is the mindless pursuit of results being driven at the expense of individual skills development, and is the development of more players and long-term champions being forgotten? Should more be done to encourage broader participation of cricketers in school sport?

Representatives from schools cricket, with whom Sports Trader spoke, had a mixed reaction to the sentiments expressed in the letter.

Jacques Faul, chief executive director of North West cricket and a man who can boast involvement with youth cricket for twenty years, agrees with much of the criticism levelled against schools cricket in the letter.

Unfortunately, short term glory is emphasized at the expense of long term benefits in SA cricket school, he says. Winning at sports has become a very useful marketing tool for any school. Results are used abundantly to drive the image of a winning school. Thus the first team coach will be under pressure to win and to try and win every match.

Add to this mix the fact that there are increasingly longer seasons for the various sporting codes, fewer teachers who are able to coach, a more scientific and technical approach to coaching cricket that will scare many newcomers to the game, and the fact that cricket is seen as an all-day-in-the-sun-activity, whereas other codes are shorter.

The result is quite simple: Less capacity to do skills training with more players, or to just give more players a reasonable chance of playing cricket.

Deny players chances

“The harsh reality is we are denying a late developer an opportunity, or even a true talent a chance; by having too small a base of players,” adds Faul.

He is, however, mindful of the role that school sport has always played in promo-ting performance in traditional Commonwealth team sports.

But, with so many recreational options available to the youth, one should actively promote your specific sport code, he stresses. “If it is not fun, your average sports person will not play it for too long. We need innovative coaches to bring the youth back to the game.”

Poaching players

Another ill is that players are bought from other schools, says Heinrich van Jaarsveldt and Helen Jacobs, senior teachers at Afrikaans Hoër Seunskool (Affies) in Pretoria. Good players, especially from rural areas, are coaxed away.

“Instead of developing your own learners, you take a child away from his own school and deny him the privilege of playing for his own school.” (At the same time you deny a learner from your own school a place in the team).

There is a supposed to be a gentleman’s agreement between headmasters in Cape Town about poaching, says John Young, first-team coach of Pinelands High School. Sometimes it is ignored to improve the one school’s transformation credentials or to improve their win ratios.

“But it is not only poaching. I know of senior schools who send scouts to primary tournaments and festivals looking for potential, armed with cheque books. So schools have become like Chelsea and Manchester United,” adds Young.

If a school coach simply buys next year’s fast bowler, he really is taking a lazy short-cut; but perhaps the old boys demand it. If they do, they are stupid because the chap in Grade 11 might be the greatest fast bowler ever — if the coach just took the time to work on him, explained Young.

Smaller schools do suffer because of a myriad of reasons, like the lack of skilled coaches, lack of players, financial strife and the lack of equipment, says Van Jaarsveldt and Jacobs.

A few factors hamper the development of school sport, they say. One is competitive sport — some schools are so focused on silver ware in the trophy cabinet that they lose perspective. “Players do not get the opportunity to express themselves on the sporting field. They must stay within a certain pattern, and are afraid to make mistakes.“

A school prepares learners for life in general by participating in sport, says Dr Pierre Edwards, headmaster at Affies.

“Therefore, we believe very strongly that every child should participate in sport and that school sport involves more than the A-teams and the first team.

“A second factor associating with the previous point is the increasing trend of professionalising sport at school level. Almost all leading schools currently sport gymnasiums, because if your A-team do not gym, they cannot compete with the top-schools.”

Edwards says a topic on its own is the sporting father who tries to fulfil his dreams through his son. His whole life is focused on school sport and then they expect the school to abide by their plans and dreams. These types of parents become an increasing problem. They smother the fun that every parent should get out of school sport.

Win and grow the game

There is a certain amount of truth in the letter — but winning matches does not necessarily mean that you discourage greater participation, explains Peter Knowles, a former senior WP provincial player and director of cricket at Wynberg Boys High.

There is enormous pressure on schools to produce good results, and sometimes definitely to the detriment of the game, he agrees. At Wynberg they do focus on results at A- and B-team level, but never at the expense of the boys’ enjoyment or the right way to play the game. But, the school also has seven U19, five U15 and seven U14-teams. They therefore encourage boys of all skill levels to play — and they do so with tremendous enthusiasm and enjoyment.

They try their best to give good coaching to all, and to this end a cricket professional runs open nets on Friday afternoon when any boy in the school may attend (and they do).

The school tries to keep abreast of the latest coaching methods via the local coaching authority. They also run specialist clinics with the likes of Denys Hobson, Geoff Love, Aubrey Martyn, Adrian Holdstock and Peter Kirsten coming along to share their expertise.

Disagree with correspondent

“Winning is not the alpha and omega at Hoërskool Grens,” says Lourens Koorsen, director of sport at the East London high school. “Our purpose is to encourage young players to participate according to their level. We emphasize competition. The pressure to win is big, because the position of every player hinges on his performance.

“But at Grens, the players present at every training session who demonstrate the necessary self-discipline, are awarded with selection. Many excellent players have missed out on selection because of the above-mentioned reasons. We are willing to lose a match, rather than to forsake our principles,” adds Koorsen.

Rob Dalrymple, a former senior batsman of the Boland team and director of cricket at Rondebosch Boys High school, also disagrees with the criticism levelled against SA schools as being too focused on winning at all costs.

At Rondebosch, they are very conscious of the development of individual players and there is not much emphasis on the results achieved by the teams, he says. The team does specific goal-setting at the beginning of every season and the goals are never allowed to be result-orientated. They place a heavy emphasis on the process that you need to follow in order to become a successful cricketer.

Much time is spent discussing the mental aspects of the game, as well as working on the technical aspects of it.

To blame the schools for technical inadequacies at international level, is ludicrous, he says.

Most schools cannot afford to employ international standard coaches and make do with whichever teachers are prepared to give up their weekends for cricket.

Also, many of the flaws develop from season to season — a player making his national debut at 24 (still young) has already been out of school for six years. Surely this is the provincial coaches’ responsibility? adds Dalrymple.

“Although there is a fair amount of interest in the school’s results, they are not regarded as paramount. However, if you concentrate on technical skills, coupled with a knowledge of how, as a player, you can ensure that you can replicate what you practice in a match situation, results will look after themselves,” adds Dalrymple.

What’s wrong with winning?

A representative of Grey College said the results of matches should be important: Life is a competitive environment and the scoreboard next to all sports fields prove that people play to win. Teams that regularly lose can surely not claim that they are enjoying the activity!

In order to win, individuals and teams must train with determination and the will to succeed and this would also involve individual and team skills development.

However, winning at all cost, is not educationally sound and therefore the practice of buying players should not happen. Loyalty to the team and/or school you represent is one of the more positive benefits of school sport and that loyalty is in the heart of the player concerned, not in his wallet.

Grey College believes it is important to make players in all teams feel that they contribute to the success of their team, their school. Should a team only have eleven cricketers, that team will battle against schools with 100 or more players.

Also that sport is part and parcel of the educational process and should not inflate the egos of only a few individuals, especially since those individuals will need the support of the whole school community when they play in inter schools matches.

Emphasis on skills development

At Bishops there is a great deal of emphasis on skills development, especially in the first team, second team, third team, U15 A and B and U14 A and B, but with much emphasis also on enjoyment, says Geoff Kieswetter, director of cricket at Diocesan College and editor of BishopsBlue.

“For example, I hire two dedicated professional coaches to work specifically with the second team and U17 A’s (third team) and the U15 A and U14 A teams, mainly to help the teacher-coaches cope with the demands of their jobs, with cricket not being their main business. Across the board the focus is on skills development, fitness and the psychological aspects of the game.

“The first team coach and his assistant are as good as any professionals I know in the Western Cape.”

The school organises specialist clinics where people like Denys Hobson (on spin bowling), Vaatjie Minnaar (captaincy), Adrian Kuiper (batting) and a variety of wicketkeepers highlight specialist skills. The competitive environment in which Bishops operates, does mean that the first team is the key team, but the philosophy of the school allows them to focus also on cricketers across the board.

Professional coaching

Several companies help to develop and promote cricket through professional coaching at schools, or clinics for individuals. Among them are Sporting Chance in Cape Town with a strong grassroots focus, Ryan Maron Cricket School, Dale Hermanson’s Sports Horizons in Johannesburg, Danny Becker and many more.