Update Traineeship Observation

Intro

So the other day (22-Sep-11) I was meant to have had an observation at my work to see how I was going with my traineeship, however I got a call the day prior to today, where I was told that the person who hired me from ASA would meet me at another location outside of my work and get me to sign some sheets and then she would call my boss and ask how he thinks I am going.


Why are they doing this?
The most logical reason for them doing this is to see if I am attending work when I'm required to attend, and if I'm working efficiently and productively.

Pro's

In terms of anything good coming out, the only good that can come out of someone watching you work is possibly the fact that ideally some people under pressure will show their 'true colours' and will show how they work under pressure.Or it could be to see that know what you are doing, that you are developing/improving, and that you are applying the knowledge from the theory days.


Con's

The concept of the idea is logical however it seems to fail in certain areas, due to some people feeling the sense of pressure thus hindering their work performance. In essence the idea is good but the scheme they use to put it into action is bad.


Conclusion
In conclusion if the Australian Sports Academy can come up with a scheme that will let the employee work without knowing they were been watched then in essence the idea should work. A recommendation would be to allow your boss to write up a basic report on your progress from day one and then send it into the ASA.

Good health

Intro
Cricket is as much a way of life as it is a sport, and this means it is also about health.  Below are some guidelines that I feel should be laid out.


What not to do
-No smoking near scorers or players, and never on the field
-Players should avoid soft drinks
-Avoid sugary/salty/high fat snacks (gives you short term energy which as a result leaves you without energy in the long term )


Tips on what to do
-Try iced mint tea: benefits are its cool & refreshing and it helps your stomach (takes away the discomfort)
-Try an apple or other fruits such as bananas and oranges


Why would you do this?
So most of you after reading this must be wondering, why would you do this. Well my answer to that is to simply think of someone else for a change... Smoking is not doing you any good let alone the people around you and why would you have low nutrition food after playing sport or during sport as you lose the long term benefit of playing sport; i.e. you wont remain fit if you have McDonald's every time you go out and play sport.


Helpful links
-Nutritional food to have whilst playing sport
-Smoking: Why its bad for you!

Traineeship

The school-based traineeship includes theory, practical (workplace) and observational components for a total of 360 hours. Since starting the traineeship with the Australian Sports Academy in July I have completed approximately 120 hours of the practicals. On Tuesday, September 13th, I attended my first classroom day for my school-based fitness instructor traineeship. There are eight of these days throughout the traineeship. I have yet to have a workplace observation, however the first is now scheduled to take place on the 22nd of September.

The way it is going I will have completed all of my allowed practical hours before I get a chance to have the theory components, and that gives me cause for concern as I am not sure that I will benefit anywhere near as well from the traineeship if I do not have the theory to put into practice and to bed it down through that practice.   It also concerns me that as the schedule stands I will not complete the traineeship until mid-2012. My intention was to complete this by January, 2012 and then to begin on the Certificate IV program during Year 12.

As you may have realised there are many potential problems that can occur whilst undertaking a school based traineeship.  Assuming that they would ever read this I want to make some recommendations to help the Australian Sports Academy run their traineeships to a higher standard.

As far as anything is concerned  the number one problem is the timing of everything.

Theory days

If you miss a theory day (as I have done) you have to wait until another set of 'new' trainee's get to that point before you can continue.  To me there seems to be many strategies that can be employed to better ensure people can make the theory days.

One idea would be to run additional theory days during school holidays and have eight days throughout the holidays that you could attend in order to complete the traineeship.  However, it is important to keep in mind that you are given assignments in which you need time to work on, and therefore they need to spread the days apart.

Consistency of scheduling would also go a long way to addressing this issue.  The theory days should be the same day of the week as the work components.  For me, my work day is Thursday, but the theory days are Tuesdays.  Thursday was chosen as that provided the least conflict with my courses at school.

Another potential solution that I would like to put forward is to have an 'exam block' in which after attending all the theory lessons you attend a three day time period in which you have to complete numerous amounts of tests.

Observations
There's really nothing that I can say about observations as I haven't had any yet - except that maybe they need to be linked into the progress on the practical hours.

Practical
Practical (work) hours should be limited to keep pace with observations and theory days.  It would probably be easiest to break these up into 40 hour blocks.  For every theory day completed you need to work a complete block before the next theory day, and, for every block completed there must be an observation performed before the next block can commence.  The occupational health and safety component should be completed before any practical can commence.

Conclusion
By the way for anyone interested in attending the Australian Sports Academy, I just wanted to let you know that they now offer coaching, recreational sports managements and fitness instructor traineeships.  If they fix the several problems that have bitten me and possibly many other people this organisation could become a hit for students across Australia.

ASA website: http://www.australiansportsacademy.edu.au/

StraightShooter's Pearls of Observation for Under 10's

Under 10's cricket occupies a pretty unique place in club cricket - it's a major entry point for inexperienced players, players who have played Kanga and Have-a-go cricket, and a few returning players.  This nexus of pathways provides a fairly broad spectrum of skills and abilities within most teams, and at the start of the season this will be most pronounced.  Under 10's cricket is also played with a fairly high degree of modifications to the format and rules of the game.

It is this combination of factors that results in conditions which can make the experience at times frustrating for many players.

As much as Millsy has played under 10's cricket, his mother and I have been right there with him all along the way.  During that time we have observed many matches, and match after match, year after year we kept seeing the same things (although sometimes we seemed to have been watching different games).  This is my top half-dozen things that to me mark the difference between teams that win consistently and those that can struggle, and more importantly, the teams that provide the best cricketing experience for their players.

When throwing at the stumps always throw underarm
This will save overthrows, a whole lot of overthrows.

When fielding always support your team-mates by backing up - in pairs
This will reduce overthrows and runs scored from misfielding.

When bowling it's better to flow than to throw
What I mean by this is that accuracy (we'll settle for legal deliveries, though) is better than blistering pace.  That is only going to be achieved by maintaining control, and that control will be lost if the bowler is over-exerting.

When batting always look for runs, and look like you are looking for runs
You will score more runs, and you will frustrate the opposition as they overthrow and this often leads to even more overthrows.

When batting never reach or stretch to hit the ball
Even if you are not caught or stumped, you are unlikely to make any runs and there's every chance that you will be run out.  Take my advice and take the run for the wide - it's usually the best outcome.

When batting never hit at a really poor delivery
As  often as not you will be bowled or caught.  That delivery that dribbles down the pitch will get right under your bat and bowl you; and that one that doesn't make it down the pitch or rolls off the pitch - hit it and as likely as not you will be caught.

A Bonus Pearl, well not so much a pearl as just a little bit of advice.

When bowling keep your front foot well back from the popping crease
A lot of boys flirt with the line and find themselves frustrated when a no-ball is called.  At this age they are just too young to be flirting.

And finally, one for the parents

Encourage your children while they are playing, but don't call instructions out to them
As tempting as it may be, this can cause confusion, indecision and doubt in the children.