Case Study | Haris
Before joining Bristol Wicketz Knowle hub, Haris (11) had never played cricket, but learned quickly and even captained his team at the first Bristol Wicketz Festival. He wasn’t fazed by the responsibility of leadership and was always the first to congratulate his teammates on their successes, as well as going out of his way to encourage them when things didn’t go so well.
Bristol Wicketz development officer, Crispin Shingler, said: “We saw the positive impact the Wicketz Festival had on Haris. He took on the responsibility of taking care of his younger brother, as it was their first time away from home and he learned a great deal from the older boys on other teams.”
Wicketz has helped Haris to develop his social skills and self-confidence. He now welcomes new members to the hub, helps younger players with their game and gets on well with his peers and older team members.
Haris said: “I was a bit nervous about playing hard ball cricket with the older boys from Tower Hamlets. But they were really nice to us, making us feel like an important part of the team and I learned a lot from them. When I made a difficult catch and the whole team gathered round me giving me high fives, I felt so good, like I could do anything!”
This increased confidence has also helped Haris in his school life. Prior to joining the programme, he was anxious about moving on to secondary school but is now getting on well, with his mum crediting Wicketz with helping him to make the transition.
Samina first came across Wicketz when her children started attending sessions 3 years ago. At the beginning she just came along to watch, but over time she became more involved as a volunteer. Before Samina had her 3 children, she worked full time as a report analyst. When the opportunity arose to be more involved with Wicketz and coaching, she was delighted to know that she could learn new skills and still be there for her children, striking the perfect work-life balance.
From knowing almost nothing about cricket, Samina is now a Level 2 qualified cricket coach and very much in demand to coach girls, not only through Wicketz but also other programmes and at county level. Samina has also won a national coaching awards, and she can see that having a female coach at Wicketz is encouraging more girls to become involved.
She ran online Wicketz sessions during lockdown and has added Head Coach of Luton’s first girls team to her ever-growing list of roles. Samina’s confidence has soared, she has new skills and a new career.
Click here to listen to Samina's story and how coaching has changed her life.