As the Global governing body for cricket, the ICC has been developing tools to unite, inspire and empower communities through cricket. Working together with its member nations and leading experts in the field of physical education, they have created a curriculum for entry level participants to be utilised in schools and community groups. The cricket Entry level Program (ELP) incorporates the values that make cricket unique – Respect, Teamwork, Leadership – as well as the fundamental movements skills which will help participants develop a lifelong love of sport.
Cricket España was selected to be part of a pilot scheme where schools in Madrid and Barcelona would trial the ELP program and feedback the results to the International Cricket Council.
Phase 1 in Spain began in Madrid on the 24th April with Lewis Clark of Madrid Cricket Club supported by Esther De Lange from Internal Cricket Council Europe, started to plan the program some weeks back. 10 Schools in Madrid, with St Georges School acting as the hosts were excited to be part of this cricket program.
Mandy Sullivan’s brilliant communication skills were instrumental in organising the day and together with Lewis did a fantastic job getting PE teachers from these schools to commit to the event and attend the teacher training workshop. The purpose of the day was a challenging one, coaching the PE teachers, half of whom had very little idea about the sport of cricket, to leave the day with the basic skills to be able to return to their respective schools and deliver the ELP program to the kids in their schools during PE classes.
If we were in England, this day in Madrid was a typical day for cricket, as the rain and wind lashed down during the un seasonal holiday weather. However that was not to dampen the enthusiasm and excitement shown by the teachers, with Lewis, supported well by Rico from Cricket España and Soniya, played out role plays as they acted as the PE teachers, and the teachers themselves as the kids. The program is designed to give the kids an introduction to catching, bowling, batting and fielding without going into too much technical details. These are all broken down into session plans with difficulty levels getting a little harder each time. This teacher training day was a huge success achieving its objective, giving the teachers the knowledge, skills and equipment sourced by the ICC to go away with confidence and start the ball rolling.
This teacher training day was an outstanding success, fantastic fun and enjoyment was had by all but more importantly, these school teachers are now equipped and ready to deliver the sport of cricket in their classes.
Lewis was thanked for the excellent work he did in preparing the workshop and delivering it with the help of Rico and Soniya in a very professional and enjoyable style, switching from Spanish to English throughout the day catering for the needs of their students.
Many thanks again to St Georges schools for being a great host, and the other schools listed that supported the event:
Colegio Spinola, The English Montessori School, Runnymede College, Monessori School, Gredos San Diego, Joaquin Turina, Inmaculada Mirallac and Fundacion Teilema El Pilar.
Phase two kicks off soon in schools in Barcelona, and no doubt the teachers will be just as excited about the program and getting cricket into their schools.
Harmit Phull (Rico)
Junior Development
Cricket España
