Over half term, 12 young women and 15 young men took part in the first-ever Devon Young Leaders courses at Chudleigh CC.

The course is a new initiative by the Devon Cricket Foundation to help develop the coaching and leadership skills of junior members aged 13 and above, with the hope that they will return to their clubs and use these skills to assist coaching in sessions for younger children, such as All Stars or Dynamos.

"Developing a culture of giving back to the club at an early age helps create a sustainable pathway of future coaches and volunteers to support clubs," said course co-ordinator Ann-Marie Presswell. "More importantly, these young men and women provide role models for the younger children at their clubs."

On arrival, the leaders received their Young Leader shirts. "It is important when undertaking roles of responsibility that the leader looks the part."

During the morning, the course asked the candidates to consider the skills needed to be a good leader or coach and the wider responsibilities that taking on the role may require. They learnt about the foundations of batting, bowling and fielding and then had the opportunity to lead activities themselves where they put what they had learnt into practice.

"There was a great balance between learning and practical activity," commented Rebecca on her feedback of the day. "I wanted to learn how to be a better coach, and today has certainly helped me to do that."

After lunch, the course became all about gameplay and officiating. The candidates learnt about pitch lengths and umpiring, finding the best place to stand to ensure they can see the game and communicate effective signals to the scorers. They put this into practice by playing a game, where everyone got the opportunity to be an umpire and scorer.

"The young people on the course responded really well to all the advice and support that they were given," commented South Devon Community Coach Niall Leahy, who was part of the Devon Cricket Foundation Coaching team. "I was impressed with the way they applied their learning to their practical activity."

One parent got in touch after the course to say: "My son had a great time. He was a bit dubious about it when I signed him up. [He had a] big smile on his face when he got home and said he really enjoyed the coaching bit in particular. Praise indeed!”

"What we hope we have done is, as well as providing role models, these young people have also developed a love for coaching," says Ann-Marie. "It was heartening to hear them talk about their ambitions to be coaches in the future and wanting to go on ECB Courses. We hope that this course is the first of many to inspire young people to get involved."