NEW COACHING STRUCTURE ANNOUNCEMENT
Hi all, some good news. With so many decent youngsters coming through now and a good crop of loyal, improving seniors we've decided to take a different direction this year, and move away from the tradition of bringing in an overseas player.
Colin has done a great job of supporting the juniors, and will continue that role. We expect as many as seven or eight to be playing across the three senior teams this year. We are also fielding all girls teams at a junior level - and we want to make sure they have somewhere to progress to.
We are therefore investing the overseas player finances into a new, stronger coaching structure. The new roles to compliment Colin are as follows:
Kirsty Openshaw - Girls and Women's development officer. Kirsty now starts a 15 hour a week, 3 year post with us looking to develop opportunities in Edinburgh.
Steve Paige - Coach mentor and bowling coach. Steve is an x-premiership player with Watsonians, former Head of Development at Cricket Scotland and former bowling coach for the Scotland Wildcats. He holds level 3 coaching badges, and will fulfill the role of mentor to all the coaches. He will also run occassional bowling clinics for the bowlers - particularly looking to support some of our promising younger bowlers.
We also have two new roles that we are currently recruiting for:
Men's Senior coach and Women's Senior coach.
These roles will be key to leading the senior sessions for men and women (soon to be established section). They will play a role in looking to support all the senior full members to help them develop their cricket, and play a particular role in helping support the juniors transitioning to senior teams.
Both coaches will also be offered the opportunity to play their cricket at Edinburgh South. We have a shortlist for both - and expect both will contribute greatly to the club. The shortlist for the women's role currently are all current international players.
Coaching advice from all the above will be free to members as part of the membership structure.
Finally - depending on the commitments of the coaches we recruit, they may well be able to offer one to one sessions at a charge similar to what was previously provided by our overseas player. In the event that they cannot, Dewald Nel (former Scotland and Warwickshire cricket) has agreed to offer this service to any cricketers at Edinburgh South wishing to take it up.
This new structure gives us one of - if not the best - coaching structure of all the local clubs. I hope this shows our commitment not just to invest in the senior players at the club, but also to show our youngsters they are in the best place to play their cricket with a great deal of support as they transition to hardball seniors.
Any questions at all, just let me know. Further news to follow once we have appointed the new coaches.