Pembrokeshire's cricket coaches and junior cricketers are gearing up for a winter programme of coach education. The county is now one of the autonomous regions in the Cricket Board of Wales Regional pyramid system. In the words of Pembrokeshire Association of Cricket Coaches president, Ray Kane: "The aim is to continue the triumphs of the past couple of years by forging stronger links with the schools, and strengthening the coaching capability to further develop the recent achievements in Dragon Awards and county squad coaching. "Last season, the under 15 county squad again reached the national final played under the Sophia Gardens floodlights at Cardiff, in a day/night encounter of 50 overs per side. "Clad in pyjama-styled clothing, it was a terrific experience for our young players who narrowly lost to North East Wales in a nail-bitingly close encounter, which was very well supported by players' families and the Pembrokeshire cricket fraternity in general. "We now have to build on this promising start as a regional entity. To this end, the Pembrokeshire Association of Cricket Coaches is preparing another stimulating winter programme of coach education courses and workshops, Dragon coaching and county squad training, which will help prepare the coaches and young cricketers of Pembrokeshire for the demanding, but enjoyable, times ahead. "The first part of the winter programme will be the coach education courses for new and existing coaches, which will take place predominantly at Tenby Leisure Centre." The courses will be held during October and November. The October course is for cricketers with a current coaching qualification and will be the new level two course. The fee for the course is £290. The courses start with an intensive weekend from 9 am to 4 pm on both Saturday and Sunday, commencing on October 6. The course will continue a week later at Thornton Hall, Milford Haven, on Sunday October 14, at the same time and conclude the following Sunday (October 21) at Tenby, again at the same time. During the education programme, coaches will have six supervised 30-minute coaching sessions as 'lead coach'. There will be a recall evening at Tenby on Wednesday, December 5, from 6.30 to 9.30 pm, with the assessments taking place on Sunday, January 27, from 9 am to 4 pm. The level one course will begin on Sunday, November 11, at Tenby, from 9 am to 4 pm, and the cost is £180. It will continue at Haverfordwest Cricket Club on Wednesday, November 14, from 6.30 to 9.30 pm, followed by a session at Tenby on Sunday, November 18, and at Haverfordwest Cricket Club on Wednesday, November 21, during a three-hour evening session. The assessment for this course will take place at Tenby on Sunday, November 25, from 9 am to 4 pm. Course application forms may be obtained from the course convenor, Ray Kane, of 14 St David's Road, Pembroke, tel. (01646) 682106. Cheques made payable to the Cricket Board of Wales in the sum of £100 should be paid to Mr. Kane and the closing date for the level one course is Friday, October 15, and the closing date for the level two course is Friday, August 31. Community Chest funding is available and grant application forms may be obtained from Mr. Alan Jones by telephoning Pembrokeshire County Council on (01437) 776191. The application forms for funding must be returned to Mr. Jones at County Hall, Haverfordwest, by Monday, September 10. Course application forms can also be downloaded from the Cricket Board of Wales website at cbw.org.uk. In addition to the level one and level two courses, two special skills coaching workshops will be held at Tenby Leisure Centre on Sunday, January 13, relating to batting, from 9 am to 12 noon and net coaching from 1 to 4 pm. The fee for each skills workshop is £25 and again Community Chest funding can be obtained by applying to Mr. Alan Jones at Pembrokeshire County Council.
