Cricket is like religion in India. It is played and watched by millions, and India’s pro cricketers are worshiped like celebrities. Street cricket games are commonplace and every child has at one stage dreamed of playing for India’s national squad. Cricket is far more than just sport. The development of Indian cricket has closely mirrored many political, cultural and religious issues in India. However, while thousands of children are passionate about playing cricket, there is a real lack of opportunities to play and train in a structured environment, especially in local schools in the area. This is why you can make a huge difference to grassroots cricket development by volunteering on our cricket coaching project.
Your Cricket Volunteer Placement
Our cricket coaching projects are based in local schools around Udaipur in northern India. The schools welcome our cricket volunteers warmly because there are limited sports opportunities in the disadvantaged communities, and having passionate sports coaching volunteers is a great way to promote sport locally. Culturally, Indians tend to focus on educational activities that will lead to a better career. The chances of becoming a pro cricketer are obviously very slim and, hence, why academic education usually takes precedence over sport in the schools. During your time you will be placed in two schools coaching cricket to a wide range of children. The first is an international school with modest facilities where you will run daily sessions working with different age groups, as well as the school cricket teams. The second school is a school for children with speech and hearing impairments. The children are hugely enthusiastic about sport and the school has its own cricket teams that compete in small tournaments throughout the year. The focus of our cricket coaching projects is not to find India’s next cricket star, instead the goal is to simply give more children the opportunity to play cricket as part of a structured team or club at their schools. You therefore do not need recognised coaching qualifications to join this cricket project, however you just need to some experience playing or coaching cricket at a reasonable level. Your commitment and enthusiasm will fill in the rest.
Your Cricket Coaching Role
Your main role in the schools will be to organise cricket coaching sessions and matches for the children. Your cricket coaching sessions will be timetabled during the school day, however there may be options for long term volunteers to organise additional cricket clubs after school. You may be nervous about coaching cricket in India, but you will soon discover that you possess a wealth of knowledge that your young cricketers are desperate to have. By teaching simple batting and fielding techniques, as well as bowling and basic team tactics, your players will develop rapidly. And you will find your coaching sessions extremely rewarding, not only because the young players are so enthusiastic, but because many of the players are very talented. Seeing your cricketers improve so quickly is great motivation for any cricket coach. Once you are more settled in your role, you may want to help organise sports days or cricket tournaments for the teams you work with. This is a great way to get your players excited about the competitive side of the game, and also to develop a strong team bond and sense of sportsmanship.Your cricket coaching schedule can include the following: Warm up routines and stretching guidance, rules and regulations of different formats of the game, overview of equipment and specific requirements, bowling action and technique including spin and pace bowling, batting grip and shot technique including defensive and offensive stroke play, fielding and positional play, catching and throwing the ball, as well as developing teamwork and matchplay strategy.
CRB/DBS (Criminal Records Bureau) Check
It is required that participants complete a CRB/DBS (Criminal Records Bureau) check in order to take part in this project. We can provide this service for you at an additional cost because some people may already have one that is valid (please get in touch for more details).
Gap Year Cricket in India
India is perhaps the best gap year destination to experience gap year cricket and gap year travel. A gap year in India allows you to meet other gap year volunteers and coach gap year cricket while also travelling India in your spare time. You will leave your cricket gap year in India with some amazing friends and unbelievable gap year memories.
