How the Western Academy Works

From Iain Stewart, West Community Development Manager.

I have had several discussions and received a few emails surrounding the Academy and Area set up and how things work in the winter, summer and how selection works. This is understandable as new Junior Convenors and coaches have come to the fore this season (which is great to see) and also parents, some of whom are only now discovering cricket through their children, are also curious about how it all works. So here is an effort to answer the queries that have arisen…

In the rest of the country they have an Eastern Regional Academy (Head Coach, last year’s Western Academy coach Simon Smith) and in the North District they have ‘rebranded’ as the Caledonian Academies (Neil Burnett is Head Coach in Tayside & Fife sub-academy and Neil Nicol is Head Coach for the other sub-academy in Grampian & Highlands which make up the Caledoinan Academies).

Academies have an Under 14 Junior Academy Squad and an Over 14 Senior Academy squad. Players over 16 are only eligible for the winter training if they are in or are deemed to have the potential to play national level. These players are to get extra mid week 1-2-1 sessions and are known as the Performance Squad.

Last winter squads trained on alternate weeks and this will most probably be the same this winter. 9am – 12pm for cricket specific training, 12pm -1pm for fitness and also there are sport psychology seminars and nutrition workshops spread through the winter.

The Western Academy has the following Coaching/Management team:
Head Coach – Iain Stewart (Level 3)
Asst Head Coach – Iain Kennedy (Level 3 & mentor coach to Head Coach)
Administrator – Tim Hart
Performance Squad Lead Coach – Isaac Umeed
Senior Academy Team Manager – John Blair
Junior Academy Lead Coach – Joshua Johnston
Specialist Batting Coach – Bruce Patterson
Pace Bowling Coach – Paul Hoffmann
Spin Bowling Coach – Richard Young
Wicket Keeping Coach – Dougie Lockhart
Coaching Assistant – Ian Young