North West Cricket emphasised its willingness to grow the game at grassroots level during last Saturday’s KFC Mini-Cricket provincial virtual seminar.
Various project leaders and coordinators from Cricket South Africa and North West Cricket participated in the seminar that looked at new and innovative ways to grow the game of cricket in a Covid-19 landscape.
Nation Ntlame, NW KFC Mini Cricket coordinator, set up the seminar, which was both inform-ative and robust in setting goals for the cricket development pipeline in the province and country in general.
Two North West Dragons players, Brady Barends and Johannes Diseko, also shared some experiences of mini-cricket and fuelling the passion for cricket among local youth.
“I started in mini-cricket and then played for Potchefstroom Boys’ High and had opportunities. It was always fun and playing cricket has been a great journey,” says Diseko, who is one of the most experienced campaigners at the NW Dragons.
Diseko emphasised the importance of the KFC Mini Cricket system in producing future talent and providing opportunities.
“Coaches need to make sure that kids believe in themselves. In cricket, you never stop learning and coaches must give the kids the information they need to be successful,” he added.
“My word of advice to the mini- cricket coaches is that they should be father- and mother figures to the cricketing youngsters,” said Barends.
Currently, 126,000 children are involved in the KFC Mini-Cricket programme nationwide, which showcases the scope of cricket development. The question is how these kids progress from mini-cricket to hard-ball cricket through the correct coaching in this programme.
For this to happen, several aspects will first have to be put in place in the coming season, which is scheduled to start in January 2021.
According to Buhle Motshegoa, CSA mass participation coordi- nator, the main focus is on excellence and ensuring that the popularity of cricket is cultivated among youngsters.
“We must increase participation and widen the talent pool. We are thinking outside the box this year, with virtual online seminars, league matches in January and online coaching courses. The goal is to play approximately 5,000 games nationwide by 20 February 2021 and 80,000 matches per season.
The mini-cricket coach, Johnny Philander, also pointed out some key points that coaches can take to heart in the coming season.
“A great coach chooses window seats – he needs to see the bigger picture and wider perspective. Coaches should elevate them- selves to improve what coaches do. They need to know what the targets are for specific zones/districts,” he said.
Philander also focused on the need to lead from the heart. “A great coach leads from the heart; they build wells, not walls. It’s important to get kids active again and involve the community through kids,” he emphasised.
