Will Naish and Ben Morris discuss the opportunities available to young professionals.
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Signing on as a rookie is an exciting prospect for many young cricketers in England and Wales. They have the opportunity to step up to the next level, challenge themselves and further enhance their game. However, a Rookie Contract offers so much more.
The contracts start at agreed minimum salary bands to provide fair contracts for all young professionals in the county game. The agreements also see provision for personal development, with each player needing to complete in excess of 100 hours through education, work experience and learning as well as mandatory attendance at PCA Rookie Camp.
As Gloucestershire’s Will Naish and Ben Morris of Glamorgan explain below, being a rookie allows each player the time, opportunity and support to maximise their development off the field. Read how both have used their contracted personal development hours to further enhance their time in cricket whilst preparing for life beyond playing…
- How have you found the process of being a rookie?
- Naish: I have found my period as a rookie an exciting prospect with a lot of opportunities to grow within the game whilst gaining a greater insight into how I can apply my skills, qualities, and knowledge outside of my playing career.
- Morris: My rookie experience to this point has been a very enjoyable one as I’ve been able to balance being a first year student at university whilst experiencing the challenges of professional cricket.
- As part of your 100 hours, what personal development did you engage in?
- Naish: As part of my 100 hours of professional development, in my first year I worked at Beaudesert Park Preparatory School 2-3 afternoons a week during the winter coaching various sports; cricket, rugby, hockey, netball to name a few. During my time at Beaudesert I also did lunchtime cricket sessions with a group of talented girls and boys during the winter months to work closer on each of their individual games. Come the summer I was far more flexible with my hours due to my playing commitments. When time allowed I would be with one of the girls teams to help push the standard of girls crickets at the school. As a result of this, the groups of girls I was coaching at U11 age won the IAPS tournament held at Milfield School going unbeaten in five games. In my second year as a rookie I continued to work at Beaudesert taking the U13a rugby, until October when I went away for five months to South Africa. Whilst in South Africa I was also coaching two hours a day at the most prestigious school in South Africa, Hilton College. Dale Benkenstein our head coach helped arrange this opportunity to happen. It was great to have the opportunity to go away and work on my own personal game but also continue coaching at the same time.
- Morris: I chose to study product design at Cardiff Metropolitan University as this field of design has intrigued me from a young age. It felt like a natural progression to explore this further in the form of a university degree where I can improve my skillset.
- Why did you choose this route of personal development?
- Naish: I chose to do this for my professional development because I have a huge passion in coaching and believe I have the ability and skills to pursue this as a secondary career alongside my cricket for however long this may be. Adding to this, coaching is something I really enjoy and get a lot of satisfaction out of seeing players develop and succeed.
- Morris: My previous education in product design at A Level gave me an excellent foundation to tackle a degree which I’ve loved so far. The facilities in the design school have enabled me to print high quality presentation boards for my most recent product, which in competition won the WJEC Innovation award as well as the Innovation prize at the Triumph design awards.
- What learning and experiences did you gain from this?
- Naish: My learning experiences have been very good I have coached alongside some great coaches during my time at Beaudesert but also at Hilton College. Where I coached alongside former Kent and Hampshire player David Griffiths. I learnt a lot from him about the way he conducts sessions but most importantly the language he uses to players when coaching them. This also varies on the individual but also team.
- Morris: My degree has benefited my presentation skills massively. My course involves a lots of group speaking in front of larger audiences which I was previously uncomfortable with. So pushing myself away from my comfort zone in this sense has undoubtedly helped me.
- How will this benefit your future?
- Naish: I have benefited from having to do my 100 hours professional development because I have opened so many doors in the coaching world but also gained valuable experience and knowledge to take forward into my own coaching career.
- Morris: As I progress with the degree, I will learn many more transferable skills which will be of great benefit to both my product design and cricket career.
