By Yvette Casey, North Devon Rounders
I started playing with North Devon Rounders in the summer of 2016. Like many other members, I hadn’t played Rounders since school but remembered how much I always enjoyed the sport. As soon as I started playing again, I became addicted! Not only because of the sport but because of the people in the club and the friendships I have made. North Devon Rounders has successfully brought many people with various backgrounds together who wouldn’t normally meet. I personally love how inclusive the sport is to people of many abilities and ages. I was inspired to attend the Level 1 UKCC Coaching course by the members who run North Devon Rounders. They have started such a lovely club and after several years of reaping the joys of playing with them, I wanted to give something back and help those who made the sport enjoyable for me.
I plan on using my qualification to help new and existing members to learn new techniques through fun games, warm-up drills and tips throughout game play. I hope that North Devon Rounders members will enjoy the sport even more with the added encouragement and hope that with some additional help they will get the most out of the sport.
The entire course was very enjoyable. Those attending the course had different backgrounds which included members from community clubs, school teachers and sports coaches with a variety of knowledge about the sport. I went in with the knowledge of playing the sport for the last couple of years but I personally had no coaching experience. I did not know what to expect but the course tutor soon explained the days schedule, gave us an introduction to coaching and broke the ice from the offset with some fun warm up exercises which led to a very relaxed and enjoyable environment. The course was split over two days, these days were long but we did not notice as the time soon flew by. The course tutor was very inclusive to all that attended and ensured that we all had a good understanding of what was being taught. The first day included many different drill techniques and demonstrations for each aspect of the sport. We mainly learnt through fun hands-on practice and everyone on the course clearly improved and learnt new coaching techniques throughout the day. We went home after the first day with some homework and we were able to use our new skills in practice before returning for our second day of the course. The second day included a quick practice and over cap of what we had already learnt. We then sat our written exam followed by splitting into groups for our practical assessment demonstrating a small coaching session. Everyone on our course passed with flying colours and it was great to be a part of other participant’s demonstrations as they all brought fresh and fun ideas to the sessions.
I am now a lot more confident in preparing and delivering coaching activities and feel that I can add more variety to our weekly sessions. I learnt how to demonstrate step-by-step progression techniques and several new game tactics that I can now happily pass onto other players of the sport.
I would highly recommend the course! If you’re considering being a coach for Rounders, just go for it, you will not be disappointed. It is extremely rewarding to help people to improve their skills and achieve something they haven’t necessarily been able to do successfully before. I am looking forward to seeing how much more our member’s progress with some further coaching and hope that their enjoyment of the sport continues to grow as much as mine has.
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