{"id":228,"date":"2024-03-19T01:54:16","date_gmt":"2024-03-19T01:54:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cwbblogs.com\/nepal24\/?p=228"},"modified":"2024-03-19T01:54:18","modified_gmt":"2024-03-19T01:54:18","slug":"rachana-reflects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cwbblogs.com\/nepal24\/2024\/03\/19\/rachana-reflects\/","title":{"rendered":"Rachana Reflects"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

First time volunteer Rachana reflect on her time in Nepal…<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n

Late last year, I received an email saying I\u2019ve been selected as a coach with Cricket Without Boundaries and would be spending 2 weeks in Nepal coaching school students (in particular adolescent girls) cricket, with the goal to promote gender equality through the sport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I remember looking at that email with a combination of happiness and disbelief. I\u2019ve been someone who has been deeply passionate about cricket \u2013 in particular women\u2019s and para cricket \u2013 for many years now, but that has been merely as an observer (and a \u201ctalker\u201d). To be able to pursue something like this is a dream come true. But, as my friends and family would know, I\u2019ve rarely if ever had the opportunity to play cricket growing up, and I was nervous about coaching with limited playing experience.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

After a packed training weekend where I was coached as a \u201ccricketer\u201d and as a \u201ccoach\u201d, I boarded my flight to Nepal excited about what was in store.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two weeks later – we had coached 3500+ kids in 35 schools (including 2 differently abled schools), umpired and facilitated 4 tournaments, and worked with 15+ local coaches and Changemakers in Nepal. These are some of my reflections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

On coaching –<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Coaching is as much about planning as it is about the execution of the session<\/strong>, especially when you have to pack in 4 schools in a day with a tight 60-90 minutes per session. It\u2019s about planning carefully based on the parameters you\u2019re provided with – time, space, number of students, levels of the students, gender split, and being able to adapt to the situations (if there\u2019s anything I\u2019ve learned as a coach, things\u00a0never\u00a0go according to plan, but the main way to prevent a chaotic and poor managed session is by planning).<\/li>
  2. You\u2019re there to ensure the group grows as a whole, and not just focus on outliers.<\/strong>\u00a0ICC has three key rules when it comes to coaching, ensuring each session is Safe, Inclusive and Fun. You\u2019re going to encounter kids of varying levels – from those who\u2019ve never held a bat in their hand, to those who can bowl at pretty fast speeds.\u00a0 How do you come up with activities & drills that can ensure that the entire group is included is key to good coaching, while also being creative in how you leverage some of the more advanced players. (As an example, I\u2019m not a great bowler, so I\u2019d get one of the more advanced players to demonstrate the bowling action while I\u2019d talk through the drill).<\/li>
  3. Coaching is gratifying, but hard work. One of the key learnings I\u2019ve had is the importance of\u00a0maintaining energy levels<\/strong>\u00a0through the session. This is more important, in my opinion, than the specific drill one is coaching or game you\u2019re playing \u2013 and is probably the most energy consuming part of the session.<\/li>
  4. Coaching can also become mundane<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 there was one day I did 8 consecutive \u201cthrowing\u201d drills and games. By the 3rd<\/sup>\u00a0or 4th<\/sup>\u00a0session I was coming up with variations to the game, some of which worked (and continued to implement), some of which didn\u2019t. How to keep things interesting for YOU is a core part of your growth as a coach.<\/li>
  5. Coaching the coaches.\u00a0<\/strong>We were in Nepal for 2 weeks, and it\u2019d be fair to say our impact would not be relevant unless we have a program that continues beyond us. We spent a lot of time with the coaches on the ground, working with them so that they can run quality sessions in our absence. CWB also finds \u201cChangemakers\u201d, slightly older girls (16+) who act assistant coaches and role models to the younger group, mobilising the community to play cricket and finding enthusiastic talent.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    \"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    Now moving onto Nepal specific reflections\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. Nepal is a country of\u00a0severe gender and caste inequity<\/strong>; gender discrimination and stereotyping are highly prevalent. Our role with CWB is not just to promote cricket (even though it is the greatest sport in the world :D), but to also help in breaking down the barriers that prevent girls from playing the sport in order to help promote gender equity as a whole.
      One of my favourite parts of coaching are the conversations with the students, mainly on gender (in)equity.<\/strong>\u00a0These conversations were a learning experience for me as well, and I was discovering new perspectives to these topics as we spoke. I\u2019d usually start the discussion with a simple true\/false question like \u201cgirls don\u2019t play cricket because they\u2019re not interested in the sport\u201d or \u201cgirls don\u2019t play cricket because they\u2019re weak\u201d testing their views on gender stereotypes. I\u2019d then move on to more trickier topics such as gender discrimination \u2013 e.g. asking the boys what they would do if they saw girls being teased (sidenote \u2013 favourite answer was when a boy said in Hindi, I will invite them to play as it is also\u00a0their righ<\/em>t to play the game).
      Caste is a topic that comes up a lot<\/strong>\u00a0(especially in the more privileged schools where kids would walk up to me asking me my caste), and it\u2019s one that I struggled responding to \u2013 saying I don\u2019t have a caste or don\u2019t believe in it sounds a bit of a cop-out, saying caste doesn\u2019t exist is untrue in their context. The answer I give now, albeit not perfect, \u201cDo you like me? Do you want to be like me?\u201d I assume they will say yes, and then I immediately respond \u201cNo matter what my caste, you\u2019ll still want to be like me?\u201d \u00a0\u00a0<\/li>
    2. Sports can enable several life skills which are invaluable especially when coaching kids from underprivileged backgrounds \u2013 leadership, teamwork, compassion, confidence<\/strong>. These qualities become even more pronounced in difficult contexts. There is a lot of gender discrimination that many of these girls face \u2013 right from teasing on the court to menstruation stigma, and spending a few minutes after each session speaking to them about some of these challenges and what the kids can do to support each other has, in my opinion, been a much needed use of time aside from just the cricket skills. We have to be realistic \u2013 many (most) of them will not be able to become international cricketers, but skills that one develops through sport along with the conversations they can help facilitate go a long way, and hopefully we can play a small positive impact in their journeys.\u00a0<\/li>
    3. Representation matters.\u00a0<\/strong>Coaching and learning can only go so far unless they\u2019ve seen examples in their community and others who\u2019ve succeeded (yes, a little bit of a chicken and egg problem). This is why I believe the Changemakers program we run is such a valuable tool, giving younger boys and girls the opportunity to see young women, probably a few years older to them, paving their way in cricket. Separately, as the only coach of South Asian origin in the CWB contingent, this spurred a lot of questions by the girls, teachers, parents, coaches on my role as a \u201ccricket coach\u201d and how I got to here. I never realised that an example like mine, someone who got involved in cricket barely a few years ago, could inspire all these youngsters that anything is possible (and that examples exist!). As the sport continues to grow, I\u2019m hopeful that the young women we coach see more examples succeed in women\u2019s cricket and sport \u2013 be it in their community, in Nepal more broadly, and internationally.\u00a0<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
      \"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

      I think my most important learning through all of this \u2013 you don\u2019t have to be a great player in order to be a good coach.<\/strong> Coaching is so more than just the technical skill sets, with the overall recognition that you will have a deep impact on many kids\u2019 lives. Grateful for my life-changing two weeks and excited what lies in store.
      <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      First time volunteer Rachana reflect on her time in Nepal… Late last year, I received…<\/p>\n

      Read the postRachana Reflects<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":232,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cwbblogs.com\/nepal24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cwbblogs.com\/nepal24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cwbblogs.com\/nepal24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cwbblogs.com\/nepal24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cwbblogs.com\/nepal24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cwbblogs.com\/nepal24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":235,"href":"https:\/\/cwbblogs.com\/nepal24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228\/revisions\/235"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cwbblogs.com\/nepal24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cwbblogs.com\/nepal24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cwbblogs.com\/nepal24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cwbblogs.com\/nepal24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}