A cricket coaching course for 15 teachers and a two-day coaching clinic for students were jointly held on 6 and 7 June in Soma and Mansakonko.
Organised by The Gambia Cricket Association, the two-day coaching clinic brought together 290 students from the Lower and Upper Basic schools.
The courses are part of the Gambia Cricket Association Rural Development Project, according to Wilfred Riley, Secretary General of the association.
The cricket coaching course conducted for teachers covered the following fundamentals: batting, bowling, catching and fielding scoring, umpiring and signals, cricket terminology and laws of cricket.
The two-day coaching clinic for the students also looked at such basic fundamentals as batting, bowling, catching, fielding, back lift and the swing, delivery and follow through, slip catches and throwing to the wicket.
The names of the schools that took part in the coaching clinic from Mansakonko are as follows: Soma New Lower Basic School, Soma Karantaba Lower Basic School, Soma Proper Lower Basic School, Pakalinding Upper Basic School, Pakalinding Lower Basic School, Soma Upper Basic School, Karantaba Lower Basic School, Tahir Senior Secondary School and Kanni Kunda Lower Basic School.
The coaches were led by the vice president of the association Mbye Dumbuya (who served as coordinator), with Prince Johnson, Moses Bahoum, and Peter Campbell ICC/ACA Africa Level 1 Coaches, Assistance Coaches Andre Jarju and Ismaila Tamba assisted by Mamadi Jarju the Regional Sports and Cricket Coordinator in Region 4, Mansakonko.
At the end of the two-day cricket coaching clinic, schools that attended the programme were given a set of cricket equipment to kick-start the game in their schools.
