Four Devon coaches have been recognised in this year's ECB Coach Awards after winning their respective regional categories.

Eloise Maxa (Hatherleigh CC), David Joseph (Chagford CC), Stephen 'Andy' Rickard (Cornwood CC) and Matt Cooke (Sidmouth CC) all won the Devon award for their category: Young Coach of the Year, Coach of the Year, Outstanding Contribution - Services to Coaching and Outstanding Contribution - Services to Coach Development respectively.

Eloise Maxa
Young Coach of the Year

Eloise has never turned up to a session without a smile on her face or a plan in her head. In the past year, she has grown as a coach as her experiences of coaching in many different environments have helped her build a professionalism and knowledge base on which she can rely.

Club Coaching

Eloise has coached at Hatherleigh CC since All Stars started five years ago. She came with her friends to support the older coaches and from there has taken her Foundation I and Core Coach qualifications. She helps every week at Dynamos on Fridays and All Stars on Saturday mornings, leading groups and training up new volunteers to help at the club.

"She is brilliant with the children; patient cheerful and encouraging. Her knowledge of cricket and coaching experience means she can change an activity to keep everyone engaged. She is a great role model to the young girls at the club," says Hatherleigh CC's Head of Youth Cricket, Alex Presswell.

Wicketz

Last academic year, Eloise helped our then-Wicketz Development Officer, Katie Holland, run one of our hubs in Plymouth. Katie spoke very highly of Eloise and her dedication to the programme, saying: 

"Eloise always takes pride and care in getting to know each young person she coaches. Her ability to adapt each session to make sure it is inclusive, fun and engaging is unmatched. We were lucky to have Eloise supporting the Wicketz programme".

Youth Development Cricket

Eloise also took part in coaching Youth Development Cricket (YDC), both boys and girls. This led to her being the coach for the YDC Under 11 Girls. Lead Coach, Ann-Marie Presswell, commented:

"Eloise took time to get to know every player and what makes them tick. It is so important that enjoyment is the focus at this age and we keep them in the game. Eloise was able to keep the girls engaged, even when the cricket was challenging, and had a gift for getting the girls to think about the cricket in positive terms and how they could progress."

Schools Coaching

Eloise has also delivered our Secondary School Girl’s Summer Coaching Programme for the past two years. This involved a six-week programme of cricket, aimed at girls who had little or no knowledge of the game and often in some challenging schools. Eloise took this all in her stride and was dedicated to ensuring that her standards never dropped. Devon Cricket received many positive comments about Eloise and her coaching.

Teign School, who were nominated as Secondary School of the Year for Chance to Shine and were named Secondary School of the Year by Devon Cricket, said:

"It was an amazing opportunity for the students to have Eloise in to coach them during their PE lessons. They all developed their knowledge and understanding of cricket. Some students who have not had this type of opportunity before developed a real love for the game and did not want the block of cricket to end. We are extremely thankful for Eloise's sessions and the students did not want her to leave."

David Joseph
Coach of the Year

David was involved at Kent Cricket for a number of years before he moved to Devon prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. David has thrown himself into the Performance Pathway at Devon Cricket and has helped with a number of different age groups.

He is Lead Coach of the Under 18 Boys and Girls at Devon Cricket, managing to guide both sides to the national finals in their respective competitions in 2023. The previous year the Under 18 Girls went one better and won the national ECB Royal London County Cup, where David was instrumental in training and coaching the girls to the amazing achievement.

David is also the Lead Coach for Devon Women, leading the side to third place in Group 8 of the Women's T20 County Championship.

Andy Rickard
Outstanding Contribution - Services to Coaching

Andy Rickard has been an active club member at Cornwood CC for well in excess of 30 years, joining initially as a player. He soon became a committee member and, for approximately 20 years, has been the junior section coordinator. 

Before All Stars came along, he was responsible for setting up the club's Acorns section which, welcomes young players from four years upwards. This has been invaluable as a means of starting the journey into youth cricket at the club. During the winter months, Andy runs a regular weekly training session at a local sports hall which enables the club's younger age groups to continue their cricket development outside of the cricket season. In the summer, Andy runs the Under 10 softball teams.

His patient and unflappable demeanour makes him very popular with the younger players and parents alike. He's always first to arrive on club nights to ensure everything is set up for the coaching sessions and, despite the many years in his role, he continues to coach with a high degree of passion which is very visible.

Andy is currently vice-chairman of West Devon Youth Cricket League, where he has served for at least 15 years. His common sense approach to decision-making and issue management has helped the league develop a strong foundation for years to come.

His maintenance skills are also fully utilised at the club, with Andy regularly undertaking repair jobs and gardening duties. Over the past two years, he has been regularly working on the major kitchen upgrade project at the club, which has involved demolishing walls, building kitchen units, tiling walls, hanging doors and much more. 

Andy is a fully committed and longstanding club person who is driven to nurture young children into cricketers for life who play with smiles on their faces. He has played a huge part in the successes at Cornwood CC for many years and therefore is worthy of recognition.

Matt Cooke
Outstanding Contribution - Services to Coach Development

Matt is an energetic and extraordinarily dynamic coach developer. His infectious passion for coaching cricket has been passed on to hundreds of candidates across the county over the years.

Matt’s strong background in cricket sees him equipped with all the necessary technical skills to impart on candidates to prepare them for a lifetime of passion for coaching cricket in Devon.

Matt has developed a number of innovative strategies and learning methodologies to engage in different groups, including candidates with physical and mental disabilities.