American Cricket Federation’s (ACF) Director of Coaching Jatin Patel last weekend conducted cricket coaching clinics at the Level 1 and Level 2 stages, for more than a dozen coaches in the New York area. Most of the participants in the two clinics have played cricket at the first-class level, which made communication of game strategies, awareness, and basic bowling and batting techniques somewhat easier.
The clinics were held at the Idlewild Cricket Facilities of Queens United Sports Club in Queens, New York, and ACF would like to extend a very hearty Thank You to club President Tony Hinds, Youth Academy Director George Samuel, and the grounds staff and youth coaches of the academy, for their gracious hospitality. It was the perfect backdrop for the clinics.
The participants were loud in their praise for the clinical instruction received, and the delivery mechanisms of the seasoned high school and college soccer and Cricket Australia certified cricket Coach Jatin Patel. His “thinking outside of the box” approach was welcomed by all of the participants.
Pictured above, American Level 2 coaches including two female coaches with ACF Coaching Director Jatin Patel (3rd from right) and above.
One of the Level 2 participants, Desmond Thompson remarked to Coach Patel, “Your coaching style was inspirational. I learned a lot from your practical presentation of the game and its nuances. Your coaching style has motivated me to want to learn more about coaching. Thanks for everything Jatin.”
The two-day clinic was blessed with an Under-15 boys cricket match featuring the Queens United Cricket Academy (QUCA.org), and Cricmax (cricmax.com) based in New Jersey. The match gave the participants an opportunity to observe the coaching styles of the teams’ coaches, as well as to address issues such as scoring, game analysis and team strategies on the field.
Ashok Adikoppula, who traveled from Albany, NY for the clinic said, “Coach Jatin Patel was excellent, he shared some awesome techniques and coachable moments.”
The Sunday session of the clinical presentation was held at Storm Academy, an indoor sports facility on Long Island, NY, where participants engaged in practical applications of the techniques taught by Coach Patel.
Tony Hinds remarked, “I thought Mr. Patel was very knowledgeable in his trade, simple in his presentation, and very effective in his methods of teaching/communication. The very first minute into his teaching I threw aside the cricketer in me, or what’s left, and began my new journey into becoming, what I believe is now truly my calling, coaching the next generation.”
Hinds, lamented that it was a pity more people were not made aware of the clinics, up to two days prior to them being held, and the opportunity to participate. He thanked ACF for allowing Queens United Sports Club, its Youth Academy, and Idlewild Cricket Facilities, to be the hosts and host site for the event.
Today Coach Patel proudly announced that the following four individuals were now capable of training Level 1 coaches in New York – Delkash Shahriarian, Ashok Adikoppula, Keith Aaron and George Samuel. The ACF American Level 1 and Level 2 coaching clinics complement the other established coaching programs offered around the world.
Prior to ACF’s launch of its cricket coaching clinics, there was no consistent national coaching program, specifically aimed at teaching the sport of cricket with an American sports training approach, that incorporates American high school and college coaching techniques.
The ACF Coach Certification Program is established in 17 States, with Level 1 Instructors in 10 States. The program was launched in May 2014 for Level 1 and June 2015 for Level 2. As of March 2016, forty-nine Level 2 and 256 Level 1 coaches have been trained and certified through the ACF program.
Coach and Instructor Jatin Patel is a Cricket Australia Level 2 and ICC Certified Coach, with a High School Coaches Diploma from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA), and a Certified Interscholastic Coach (CIC) for High School sports certification, from the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS).
