Nominations are finalised and the announcement for the winner of this years inaugural winner of the Leinster Coach of the Year award will be announced this Thursday morning.
The winner of this award will receive a €50 voucher for the online Cricket Shop (www.cricketshop.ie) as well as two free tickets to a Cricket Ireland match next year. They will also go on to be nominated for the national coach of the year award.
The two runner up nominations will receive €20 vouchers for the online Cricket Shop.
The following 6 coaches have bee shortlisted for the Leinster award (listed in alphabetical order).
Kenny Carroll (Railway Union CC)
Kenny Carroll was nominated for his hard work with Railway Union in their youth section, coaching, managing and coordinating. As a fellow coach said, “It has been tough season for us [Railway] and he has been a good role model as a coach for the kids, which has helped to retained players”. Kenny has been the South Dublin Development Officer for Cricket Leinster since 2012, getting cricket into schools that have never even seen a cricket bat before. During 2016 he commenced the first ever Level 3 course to be held in Ireland.
Lynal Jansen (Rush CC)
Lynal has been Rush’s head coach for the last 10 seasons, 2016 being his last, and has developed their youth structures to the level that this year they won 3 All Ireland underage titles as well as contributing to the success of the Men’s 1st XI’s National Cup win. He implemented an Academy structure in the club which has seen a lot of youth members successfully making Leinster squads.
Isobel Joyce (DUCC)
Isobel took on Trinity College (DUCC) this year and became their first ever female coach. One nominator pointed out that she is the first female coach ever for a senior men’s team in Division 2. She has been complimented for not only being a clear and concise coach, but also a skilled demonstrator who creates interactive discussions with players. Isobel took the team to 3rd place in Division 2, which was an improvement of 194 points from the season before. William von Behr, the Club Captain, described this as “a truly remarkable achievement”.
Kamal Merchant (YMCA)
Kamal has been described as “a wonderful coach with a deep passion for cricket which he passes onto the children. He coaches the children with great patience, creating a positive and calm atmosphere.” We received a heartfelt nomination from the Principal of St. Matthew’s NS, where Kamal coaches on behalf of YMCA, who won the Leprechaun Cup in June 2016. This is only a sample of the work he does for the club and in schools. With his help, Ardscoil Rìs boys school entered the Leinster schools’ competitions (U14b) for the first time. He has also coached various university teams as well as club cricket in YMCA.
Rob O’Connor (Leinster CC)
Rob was nominated for his positive influences in Leinster CC’s Women’s section this year. All 3 women’s teams made it into their cup finals. He has been described as someone who gives opportunities to developing players and encourages all players to become the best that they can be. While also commencing his Level 3 coaching certificate during 2016, he coached the Ireland U15 Girls side in their first ever appearance in the Malvern College Festival, as well as being involved in the coaching set up in the Super 3s tournaments, being an Ireland women’s national selector and coaching the Leinster U15 Girls interprovincial and Malvern squads.
Neil Swaby (Longford CC)
It was Neil’s first year coaching the Longford team in Division 6 and you can see from their promotion into Division 5 for the 2017 season that it was a successful one. He is an up and coming coach with a great passion for the game. He completed the Welcome to Coaching course in January of 2016 and hopes to continue on the coaching pathway. He enthusiastically coached the Longford team as a player coach and was described by his players as creating a “very positive atmosphere” and as someone who worked very hard with each and every player individually and as a team. He also brought on a lot of young players in the club and nurtured them so that they could realise their own talents and what they can bring to the team.