Photo Credit: England & Wales Cricket Board
- The ICC introduced the ICC Coaching Foundation Certificate in October 2021, an online course which is free and available to all aspiring cricket coaches anywhere in the world.
- The entry-level coaching course is available in nine languages.
- 9,500 active learners have already enrolled online to access ICC courses.
- Over 3,200 global learners have been certified across 90 ICC Member countries.
- More than 170 ICC Coach Tutors have been trained to deliver ICC courses worldwide.
- The International Cricket Council (ICC) today revealed some of the standout figures that highlight the significant progress made in growing the game and improving the cricketing experience for participants, since the launch of its first ever ICC Training and Education programmes in October 2021.
The ICC unveiled its Global Growth Strategy in November 2021, targeting transformative growth in participation across the ICC’s 108 Member countries by providing Members with access to world-class participation programmes.
In the past 12 months, 9,500 active learners have enrolled online to ICC education courses, covering 90 Member countries and expanding the availability of coaching resources underpinning the vision to see more players, more fans and more nations enjoying cricket.
ICC Coaching Foundation Certificate
The first programme that was made available to aspiring coaches was an entry-level coaching course: the ICC Coaching Foundation Certificate. Launched in October 2021 as the first step on the ICC’s coach education pathway, over 3,200 learners have already completed the certificate.
The course is designed to introduce learners to the basic fundamentals of cricket so that they can play a supportive role in assisting qualified coaches in delivering fun-first cricket sessions to new and beginner participants.
The course is completely free to access and is delivered entirely online through an innovative micro-learning approach, which enables courses to be completed at any pace and through short, sharp modules whether at home on a computer or on the move via a mobile device. Additionally, the resource is available in nine languages; Arabic, English, French, German, Indonesian Bahasa, Portuguese, Sinhalese, Spanish and Tamil.
ICC Coaching Course Level 1
Partnering with ICC Members including Cricket West Indies and the Asian Cricket Council on curriculum development, and Cricket Australia on Member workforce training, the ICC has followed the successful launch of the ICC Coaching Foundation Certificate by expanding its coach education offering with the ICC Coaching Course Level 1, which went live in March 2022.
Presented through a blended learning approach incorporating online and face-to-face training, the course certifies individuals to deliver coaching sessions to beginner participants on their own, and contains more in-depth technical information on areas such as batting, bowling and fielding.
More than 200 individuals have already been certified as ICC Level 1 coaches in its early stages, and it is forecasted that over 1,000 will have completed the qualification by the end of 2022. Helping drive the success of this course is a global workforce made up of ICC Master Educators (16) and ICC Tutors (over 170) spanning all five regions, who are accredited to deliver and certify these courses in ICC Member countries.
Among the countries that have already certified new ICC accredited coaches following delivery of Level 1 courses are Bahrain, Indonesia, Jersey, Mongolia, Netherlands, Qatar, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia and the USA, highlighting the global appeal of the certification.
Speaking on the success of the ICC Training and Education Programme to date, ICC’s General Manager – Development, William Glenwright commented: “ICC Members have told us that improving access to coach, umpire and pitch curator training programmes is one of the biggest priorities for the growth of the game. Consequently, we have spent the past two years working with some of the world’s leading experts in sport education to build the ICC’s first ever comprehensive Training and Education Programme – and the response in a short space of time has been inspiring.
“Our ambition to improve the playing experience for participants at all levels of the game is reliant on increasing the number and quality of coaches, umpires and pitch curators in all Member countries. To do that we need to ensure there is access to a world class education programme and a trained workforce to deliver these courses, when and where Members need them. Whilst we are in the early days of the programme rollout, the response from Members and participants alike suggests that we are on the right track.”
Among the countries to have benefitted from the launch of ICC Training and Education programmes is Indonesia. Since ICC courses went live in October 2021, they have used the resources as a platform to respond to surging participation rates in the country, as the sport becomes more popular each day. The ICC Coaching Foundation Certificate proved extremely successful and has formed the basis for Persatuan Cricket Indonesia to build and strengthen their cricket communities.
They have recently delivered workshops to certify ICC Level 1 Coaches, along with 16 new ICC qualified Tutors, 14 of which are female graduates from the 100% Coach Tutor Workshop which took place in July. The success of this programme to involve provincial coaches, PE teachers and national team players highlights the growing influence of women’s cricket in the country, with more females due to qualify as ICC accredited coaches and Tutors by the end of 2022, in time for the country’s first ever ICC global event – the inaugural ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup.
Speaking on the availability of ICC courses in the country, Head Coach of the Indonesia National Team Nuwan Shiroman commented: “Launching the ICC Foundation Certificate and Coach Tutor Programme came at a good time in Indonesia as we had just hosted the ICC U19 Women’s Regional Qualifiers. Winning this inaugural tournament has motivated more youth to play cricket in this, the fourth most populous country in the world. We are already seeing all the qualified ICC Tutors from this programme being tasked with guiding a significant number of individuals into a future of cricket.”
OTHER COURSES
Further courses are being finalised currently to develop and grow cricket communities worldwide, including the ICC Coaching Course Levels 2 and 3, along with courses designed for aspiring match officials in the form of the Umpiring Foundation Certificate, Level 1 and Level 2 qualifications. All of these accredited courses are expected to be made available in 2023.
In the meantime, a course designed to provide fundamental knowledge to groundspersons is now live, in the form of the ICC Pitch Curator Foundation Course. This will be the first step on the development pathway for individuals aspiring to build and maintain turf cricket pitches around the globe.
To access ICC Training and Education courses, learners can register at https://edapp.com/icc
More information about ICC Training and Education courses can be found at https://www.icc-cricket.com/about/development/training-and-education
