Our final coaching day of the trip began with an unexpected treat – time with the women’s and men’s national teams here in Rwanda.
As we have seen throughout our time in Africa, they were curious, attentive and keen to learn…I cannot claim to have taught their batters much in terms of technical skill, but it was interesting that they all wanted to gain views on how to plan for, and in doing so, cope with, pressure. In Holly and Andy they gained that in spades, with Ed explaining the power of using open and closed questions to underpin their approach, deepen their team bonds and equip them for challenges to come.
We will all be watching closely from this point on and I wish them every success. It was an absolute honour and pleasure to spend time with them, or as they say: “Guchina”.
We then spent the afternoon at St Agnes’ School, followed by a final session at the Indatwa Cricket Academy. In each occasion we had children across a spectrum of ages and abilities – the constant again being fun, inclusion and enough dancing to sell out the Blackpool Ballroom. Whilst sad to clear away the kit for the final time, we did so having had an amazing time – forming bonds that I know will last and bring me back to this wonderful country in the future.
A huge thankyou from me to Bangers, Grinder, Dartington and last bit by no means least our project leader, Holly aka The Queen Of The Nile …,
David Rutherford
