PCA PRESS RELEASE
Five Pears youngsters recently tried their hands at latte art.
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A group of Worcestershire players swapped the cricket pitch for the cafe as they attended a PCA-funded crash course in coffee-making last month.
Josh Dell, Charlie Morris, Dillon Pennington, George Scrimshaw and Ben Twohig enjoyed the experience at Foley’s Cafe, located at Worcestershire CCC’s home ground at New Road.
Over the course of two hours, the players profited from the experience of Foley’s barista Courtney Balfe, who taught them how to make a range of common coffees and helped them to practice their latte art.
The idea came about after a number of the squad expressed their interest in doing a barista course, which led to a formal request to use the club’s in-house cafe as a practice space.
Having been granted access, the players then benefitted from Professional Cricketers’ Association funding in conjunction with Worcestershire County Cricket Club.
The PCA runs a multi-faceted Personal Development and Welfare Programme (PDWP) which is accessible to all current and former professional cricketers. The aim of the programme is to improve players’ performance by minimising distractions during their career, as well as preparing them for life after cricket.
As part of this the PCA runs taster courses, giving players the opportunity to develop new and transferable skills, as well as funding 50% of individual development course costs up to a maximum of £1,500.
Although the players in question did not gain a formal qualification on this occasion, they were able to pick up a number of practical skills during an evening that was enjoyed by all.
“It was very entertaining. I really enjoyed learning about the different types of coffee and how to make them,” said 21-year-old George Scrimshaw.
“Although pouring is a lot harder than it looks.”
Seamer Charlie Morris didn’t appear to suffer from such issues as he was named the stand out artist of the quintet.
“We had a great evening and learned a huge amount about the many aspects of coffee-making in just a couple of hours,” Morris reflected
“Many thanks to the PCA and Foley’s for putting the course on and Courtney for her time and patience in teaching us.
“We will never look at a cup of coffee in the same way again.”
For more information on the PCA’s Personal Development and Welfare Programme click here.
