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There is lots
of the good stuff in Ghana - lots of almost overwhelming hospitality and
friendliness, lots of religions, lots of languages, lots of music, dancing,
action and socialising in Accra, and lots and lots of glorious open African
country and sunshine! All this contributes to making this
project very enjoyable.
At the moment
teaching cricket takes place in three schools and you'll probably work at all
three. Part of the uniqueness of Cricket is that the game also embodies a
philosophy and discipline based on "fair play" and other life skills - so you'll
actually be teaching the children more than 'just cricket'!
“We took the
Kwik-Cricket equipment out to one of the dusty fields, while the kids all
gathered around in curiosity. Ghana does not play cricket so for most of these
kids this was the first time they had seen a cricket bat.
We laid out the
six stumps and gave one of the children the bat. Initially the child was holding
the bat the wrong way round, so I put my arm around him and helped him to hold
the bat properly and hit the ball. Paul then did an under-arm throw. To my
amazement, this young boy's swing was very natural and he gave the ball a good
belt! It zoomed across the air and one of the girls jumped up high and caught
it. I think England may have found new team to give us a good bashing in the
future!!!”
The schools are a mixture of primary and junior secondary. You
will generally be asked to teach cricket to all age groups. You are very likely to be
in popular demand everywhere - in and out of the classroom
Some of the teachers are keen to
learn the game and help out in
cricket sessions, and we believe that this will help to expand the game not only
in the schools, but also in the entire community.
OUR NEW CRICKET DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
Travellers Worldwide and the Ghana Cricket Association are working hand
in hand to develop cricket in Ghana. As a Travellers cricket coach, you'll
assist in this development programme that is designed to strengthen the sport of
cricket in Ghana. Travellers volunteers and also coaches from the Ghana Cricket
Association will be coaching at 4 different schools in Accra.
Your role at the school will be to coach cricket at the school during lesson
times. After school you will be involved in selecting and coaching an Under-12s
and Under-14s team for all of the schools. On the weekends you might have the
opportunity to coach and train with the Ghana National Cricket team
depending on the season.
As we are trying to strengthen the sport of cricket in Ghana, three times a year
Travellers hold tournaments for the 4 schools involved, who all play for the
Travellers Trophy. Your role in this will be to organise the tournament, as well as
select the players and run the operation of the tournament. These tournaments
are a great way for children to put into practice
the skills you have taught them. These tournaments are the only opportunity that
Ghanaian children have to play cricket any where in the country.
The tournaments also allow the Ghana Cricket Association to apply for an
upgraded status with the ICB (running junior tournaments is a requirement
for Ghana to progress to the next level with the ICB).
At the same time
as teaching Cricket, you can also teach other subjects, such as conversational
English or even other sports, if you'd like to.
You don't need any qualifications
to participate in a teaching placement in Ghana (but if you're
combining Cricket with teaching English, you do need to be fluent in
English).
Your help is very much appreciated and schools will usually
embrace the volunteers whole heartily. Before you leave, you'll be provided with
a mountain of information on just about everything to do with Ghana and your
placement.
Our Ghana Manager and his team will look after you well.
You'll get lots of advice about the do's and don’ts of Ghanaian culture, what to
do and where to go.
SCHOOL TERMS:
Coaching is not available during
school holidays, so if you're planning to participate in a
placement, please take the school term dates
into account when planning the timing of your project.
On the other hand, if
a holiday falls during your proposed placement, you
could use this time to do any independent travelling
and sightseeing.
SCHOOL HOLIDAYS 2008 IN
GHANA:
Dates for the school terms (semesters) are given below (These dates are provisional and can
be subject to change).
-
1st Term 12th September – 14th December
-
2nd Term 9th January – 29th March
-
3rd Term 2nd May – 9th August
FREE SUBSCRIPTION TO COACHING WEBSITE
As a volunteer
sports coach with Travellers, we have arranged for you
to get a year’s free subscription to a Coaching website:
www.grassrootscoaching.com. With
this membership (which normally comes with a price tag
of Ł39.99), you automatically become a member of the International Coaches
Association (ICA) and join a community of coaches from over 65 countries.
The ICA is
rapidly growing into one of the largest coaching organizations in the world.
This subscription will allow you access to over 4,000 pages of the best
interactive, online soccer and football coaching information.
Although
they deal mainly with soccer, the coaching principles are the same for all
sports and will be helpful for you in teaching any sport. This
excellent resource should hopefully be able to give
you a few tips that will benefit both you and the children that you’ll be
coaching, and enable you to gain the maximum enjoyment from your placement.
Travellers volunteer arranges
for cricket equipment to be donated by the MCC -
read the Lords/MCC Press Release |
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+44 01903 502595
