After six years as a student and cricketer at the University of Gloucestershire Elliott Townsend has returned to the UOG (University of Gloucestershire) cricket setup in a coaching capacity.
Townsend recently graduated with a post-graduate diploma in Professional Practice and Sports Coaching and he explained how he first got involved in coaching .
“I had a bit of a fall out with the game, having not got into the district side. I went away for a bit played a bit of football and then I came back and joined the club (Goatacre C.C.) where my friends played and got me back into it. That’s what got me into coaching there with the younger youth setup.”
Coaching university students poses an alternative challenge to that of children and Townsend outlined some of the key differences .
“With Kids, it’s similar across the board, the same philosophy if you like. Whereas with adults, there’s a more individual focus. With children you’re trying to make them into one thing, which is obviously to participate in that sport. With uni it’s more performance based and I don’t know if brutal is the right word but it’s certainly more harsh and you can use different philosophies and coaching techniques on people, depending on the individual which you don’t get with kids.”
Another challenge of coaching cricket at university is that the bulk of games tend to come indoor as opposed to outdoor.
However, Townsend was keen to stress that the indoor season can be a positive period as well as providing a spark for the outdoor season.
“I think the indoor season is a really good way to establish for example really strong opening partnerships. If you can get two people who can open in indoors well together, I think you can look at something like that outdoors. Having that strong understanding between each other is really important and I also think with the indoor stuff , there is a lot of competition and that for me will help to improve the short outdoor season.
Obviously, the games are quite different between both indoor and outdoor because you’ve got half the team that you would outdoor I think that competition in the squad will help to drive the team to get better. Hopefully, we can foster a group that are heavily focused on positive performance.”
One thing that is apparent is that Townsend feels his studies have helped him prepare for coaching opportunities and in particular how this can help him prepare university students for what can be a challenging sporting environment.
“One of the things I found during my post-grad diploma was that it is really good to be able to share vulnerabilities with each other. I’ve had setbacks and vulnerabilities and you know I’ve played University cricket and I know what it’s like to win, to lose and also what it’s like to not get picked. Being able to share those vulnerabilities that I’ve had with other people is really, really important.”
Finally, the former UOG student outlined is own coaching philosophy and the culture he hopes to create at UOG this year.
“As I’ve coached older groups more and more I think my philosophy on coaching has changed slightly. However, overall my philosophy is that if the environment is right for people, it doesn’t matter whether there’s talent or not, if the things around them are good i.e the support behind them, then anyone can do anything .
Talent obviously helps, but I believe talent is a function of that environment and support. If people are gifted that’s great but what I want to do is create an environment where everyone can flourish not just one person. “
