********Stop Press – We have a new Battery in the minibus***********
Early start for a number of us as we had to do the blog from the day before. Following this we headed off for todays coaching with the first starting at 11:00am. This was at Pangani Primary School and we set off in fine weather although cloudy. Having arrived we went to the Head Mistresses Office – our reputation obviously preceded us!
We then went out to the fields to set up and the kids we were due to coach started to appear. Expecting 30 – 45 we actually had 64 in front of us. Following the normal introduction from Stephen we went into a mass warm up with Ghazi. All kids moving and warmed up meant we could move into the skill sessions with firstly the front foot drive being led by Steve and all other coaches assisting. We followed this by splitting into 4 groups for skill sessions:
Pull Shor – Ghazi and Simon
Bowling – Stephen and Ben
Fielding Catching – Ed and Phil
Fielding – Steve
There were some very large birds hovering while we coached and during one of the bowling sessions with Stephen and Ben an eagle swooped down and plucked an item from the middle of the playing area – amazing for Stephen and Ben but totally ignored by the kids!
Sessions completed we had the summaries and were invited into the Head Mistresses office. once we were sat down we were very impressed to be given sandwiches and ‘buns’?? With a cup of tea this was really impressive and grately received as we had 3 sessions this day following each other this day.
We presented a signed bat to the Head Mistress which was greatly received. The Sports Master also presented Stephen with a letter listing various requirements for the school that maybe CWB could help with – included refurbishment and landscaping – fortunately the media centre was not included! This will be presented to Andy Hobbs when he arrives today!
We then had to leave and head for our second session of the day at Muslim Primary. However, we needed more water so Ed went back to the Hotel while the rest of the team went to the school. At Muslin we were taken to the fields to set up.
Many kids appeared with some moving kit, etc. This was looking to be a ‘challenge’ and we had 57 kids at the welcome. Warm up by Phil which included which involved kids leaving and joining the session! We did still end up with 57 for the driving session by Steve with other coaches supporting.
First time we had seen some older kids ‘pulling rank’ on the younger kids and we had to be very firm in our work. Split into our Group sessions delivered by all of the coaches. Finished with thanks and back to head Mistress office with the request for astro pitch, etc – only joking!
We then had to move quickly to the third session at Mathare Youth Sports grounds in the ‘slum’. This area had over 1 million people living in it. Picked up lady from govt who was working with the area. The kids had not played cricket before and not sure how many expected. We had an amazing journey to get there with some very ramshackled buildings and loads of waste.
We took over the football pitch and actually had about 40 kids in the end although this varied over the hour. Quick welcome and then decided to run a non stop cricket game with all coaches assisting. Lots and lots of older kids watching and almost involved. We moved on to a fielding session with catching which all kids really enjoyed and then drew to a conclusion with quick summary as we are due back today.
Stephen, Ghazi, Phil and Ben
