National Player Development Program state based workshops

As part of the National Player Development Program, the ACA – over the preseason – has rolled out its state based workshops, catered at developing cricketers in and away from the game.

The National Player Development Program funds a range of national initiatives, such as wellbeing and financial education. These programs are relevant and available to all players in the country.

State-based workshops are purposed and tailored to the unique differences that exist in each program and state. This covers a variety of cricket and non-cricket related agendas, with the goal of developing well rounded individuals. This pre-season alone has seen over 380 attendees recorded across various workshops or seminars coordinated by their Player Development Managers.

Workshops fit under the following categories:

• Career
• Education
• Wellbeing
• Leadership
• Development

Examples include:

• Victorian Women’s took part in a program run by Pete Keogh from TriTactics. TriTactics provides programs and motivational talks on managing stress, emotional awareness, knowing and understanding oneself and working in teams, individually or in groups.
• ACT Meteors engaged Carrie Graf - current Director of Sport at the University of Canberra and former Australia and Canberra Capitals Head Coach - to conduct a session based on the themes of growth mind-set and continual improvement as a person, cricketer and leader.
• The Redbacks focussed a lot of their pre-season activity on building resilience and wellbeing, gaining perspective away from the game by supporting the Family Dinner program at Ronald McDonald House, where by we provided, cooked and served meals to families with sick children in hospital, amongst many other activities.
• NSW had Sam Mutimer from Think Tank Scout present on creating a personal brand through social media and understanding the analytics behind it.
• Western Australia players undertook their First Aid Certificate
• Other workshops have included personal development sessions on; mindfulness, vulnerability through to career development courses such as barista courses

Findings from Macquarie University report (Sustaining Elite Performance – Emotional skills and the mental game in Australian Professional Cricket) found a direct link between on-field performance and perspective away from the game.

The report said:

“For most players, performance is enhanced and refreshed if life activities outside cricket are also full and rewarding.”

One of the recommendations from the report noted that cricketers should be; “Provided more time and support, with matching resources, for players to develop and implement self-generated activities outside cricket, since maintaining a balanced perspective on the game benefits performance.”

To find out more about the opportunities available in your state talk to your PDM.