SEPTEMBER 2020 2 A WORD FROM OUR PRESIDENT: MRS ANNE VILAS It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to this edition of CGL Behind Square during the all- important Women’s Month of August. Whilst we never forget our male counterparts, we need to face the challenges of Women’s cricket, facilities and opportunities and as such our Board are looking into the creation of a subcommittee to address accordingly. We are addressing ways to increase girls’ teams at schools and clubs; as well as build awareness for women’s cricket and have a sustainable structure for training and matches. Central Gauteng Lions are also leading the Charge against gender-based-violence (GBV). Our players, coaches, staff, partners and families are all ready to voice their fight to end this. I would especially like to thank Temba Bavuma, Wandile Gwavu, Raisibe Ntozakhe and Takatso Mkhwanazi for their commitment to the cause and for their work already completed. I believe that there is an obligation by all of us to end violence against women. We need to raise our sons to respect women, to respect themselves and value human dignity. 2020 has been a year we will never forget, how our lives have changed and what will be the new normal in the future. We all need to get back to playing and watching the game we love. All the best to everyone and I hope to see you on the cricket fields in the very near future! 3 CURBING HIGH LEVELS OF FEMICIDE CENTRAL GAUTENG LIONS AND LIONS CRICKET “Imperial believes that much more can be achieved JOIN FORCES WITH POWA, IMPERIAL AND OTHER through a collaborative effort to drive the much- UNION PARTNERS TO ASSIST IN CURBING HIGH needed awareness around the challenges faced by LEVELS OF FEMICIDE women, and to provide platforms of support for those that are impacted. Imperial is committed to not only The Central Gauteng Lions (CGL) and Lions Cricket driving the development and support for women in franchise are pleased to join forces with the NPO the workplace, but also in our society through this POWA (People Opposing Women Abuse), Imperial, and many other partnerships. We are proud to be Unjani Clinics NPC, ENZA Construction, 947, Relative part of this collaboration for a critical cause,” says Media Outdoor, The Star Newspaper, BAS and Motus Esha Mansingh, Chief Corporate Affairs and Investor Honda to assist in curbing the high levels of femicide Relations Officer at Imperial. in South Africa. “Unjani Clinics fully supports the CGL and Lions “South Africa has the highest rate of Gender Based Cricket campaign against Gender Based Violence, Violence (GBV) incidents in the world and the and we look forward to working with all the partners numbers remain unabated. The partnership seeks to create heightened awareness and hopefully end the to raise the awareness of the high level of GBV rates horrendous scourge of violence against women and in South Africa, implement measures to curb this children in our country,” said Lynda Toussaint Unjani scourge and raise funds and resources for POWA. Clinics NPC CEO. As a union and franchise, led by a female President, we better understand challenges faced by women and we can proudly and firmly say that the Central Gauteng Lions and Lions Cricket will help South Africa’s women and children have a voice through sports and beyond,” commented Jono Leaf-Wright CGL and Lions Cricket CEO. POWA’s Chief Executive Officer Mary Makgaba said; “We at POWA strive to provide a safe and equal society intolerant of all forms of violence against women and girls in all our diversity, where women and children are treated with respect and dignity and their rights are protected. We are pleased and humbled to partner with the Gauteng cricket community and its partners to end the scourge of Gender Based Violence and Femicide.” 4 LEADING WITH VISION: DEVELOPING YOUR COACHING POINT OF VIEW by Ryan Hedstrom “Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?” Alice asked of the Cheshire Cat as she stood at a fork in the road. He quickly responded, “That depends a good deal where you want to go.” After informing him that she did not have any idea where to go, the cat replied with a grin, “Then it doesn’t matter which way you go.” Management consultant and educator Ken Blanchard (2007) uses this classic exchange to illustrate the importance of having direction and vision. As coaches, it is hard to always know which direction to lead athletes and programs. However, as the leader of the team you must decide the direction to lead your team via your coaching vision. The first step in understanding your vision as a coach is to develop what Blanchard calls your Leadership Point of View (LPOV). This LPOV is similar to a coaching philosophy and allows you to explore how you began coaching, your overall purpose in coaching, and how you illustrate that purpose in the way you interact with others. To develop your LPOV, you should think about the following questions: Who are the influencers (leaders) in your life who have had a positive (or in some cases negative) impact on your life? What did you learn from these people about leadership and coaching? (Examples could be parents, teachers, or coaches.) Think of your overall purpose. What do you want to accomplish in coaching? (Examples could be to lead, motivate, encourage, or teach.) What are the core values that will guide your behaviour as you attempt to coach? (Examples could be fairness, competition, commitment, or success.) Given what you have learned from past leaders, your overall purpose, and your core values, what are your beliefs about leading and motivating people? What can your athletes expect from you? (Examples could be preparation, teaching, attention to detail, or support.) What do you expect from your athletes? (Examples could be commitment, hard work, or initiative.) How will you set an example for your athletes? (Examples could be model leadership, provide ultimate support, or display fairness in decisions.) (Adapted from Blanchard, 2007) 5 LEADING WITH VISION: CONTINUED... Reflecting honestly on these questions concerning your experiences with past leaders, purpose for coaching, and coaching values is critical to your success. If you are a novice coach, take time to think about the above questions. I would suggest writing down your answers to make them more credible and long lasting. Then, you can reflect on them again at the end of the season or when you are struggling. If you are a coach who is struggling, review your answers to these questions. Often, when coaches have conflict or struggle it is when their behaviours are in opposition to their answers to the above questions. Veteran coaches can use their experience in answering these questions in a deeper way; this provides you valuable insight into your coaching vision. Wherever you are in your experiences as a coach, take time to develop a coaching point of view and reflect on how it influences your athletes. This way when there is a fork in the road, unlike Alice, you will have a clear vision of the road ahead. 6 COACH EDUCATION FEEDBACK When the lockdown started the Central Gauteng Lions Coaching Education department saw an opportunity to host virtual Coaching forums. Our Webinars and Masterclasses are aimed to assist coaches, parents and cricketers by offering topics and insight to watch in order to improve their knowledge and understanding, ultimately making the coaching task easier! The coaching webinar was launched on the 24 April 2020, when CGL hosted the Proteas assistant coach Enoch Nkwe, which happened to be the first one within cricket fraternity. We had 60 people in attendance and amongst those we had members of media (the Star and Citizen newspaper journalists), we also had coaches from Ghana, Zambia, Nigeria, New-Zealand and England joining us. We focused on 3 topics namely: How do you have players buy in to culture? How do you deal and have tough conversations with players? Dealing with player burnout throughout the season. The second lockdown coaches forum (webinar) was held on the 15 May 2020 with the Former Proteas Coach Russell Domingo being the guest speaker. Here we had 55 people in attendance. We focused on 3 topics namely: Coaching relationships Importance of cricket basics and all levels Player performance management The third lockdown coaches forum (webinar) was held on the 26 June 2020 with the professional cyclist Nolan Hoff being the guest speaker. We focused on 3 topics namely: Preparation/Training (psychological and physical) as well as diet Competition/Race mode: Winning and the strategy behind success. Recovery and review of performance during the race as well as in racing season. 7 COACH EDUCATION FEEDBACK CONTINUED... The fourth lockdown coaches forum (webinar) was held on the 13 July 2020 with the Bangladesh batting Coach & former Imperial Lions and Proteas Batsman Neil McKenzie being the guest speaker, with 45 people dialling in. We focused on 4 topics namely: Is Technique overrated? Technique vs. Tactics. Practice vs. Run Scoring. The art of attacking batting. The fifth lockdown coaches forum (webinar) was held on the 27 July 2020 with the former Proteas Bowler Paul Adams and former Proteas bowling All-rounder being the guest speakers. We had 65 people on attendance. We focused on the topic of: All things bowling As part of an ongoing Coach development program there is a lot of coaching information that is shared via WhatsApp as often as possible to educate and add to coach’s knowledge. This is done in form of videos, article etc.