The Junior School girl’s cricket team were delighted to host Mark Coles, Head Coach of the Scotland Women’s Cricket Team, who took time out of his busy schedule on Saturday 8 May to run a cricket training session with them.
Coles has accumulated over 20 years of experience as a professional cricket coach. His appointment was part of a move by Cricket Scotland to drive forward the country’s women’s cricket game.
ESMS Junior School has one of the largest extra-curricular cricket programmes for girls in Scotland. Cricket Scotland has helped to upskill many of our teachers to help them deliver high quality sessions for our pupils, with current pupils and former pupils also involved in supporting the sessions. Alongside this the support of the Stewarts Melville Cricket Club has been invaluable. Through their weekly coaching commitment they have significantly contributed to the success of the sport in the school.
The school has a history of inspiring and supporting female cricketing talent over the years, with current pupils Katherine Fraser and Catherine Holland both playing cricket for their country. The ESMS cricket programme is managed by PE teacher Caroline Heron who also played for her country, prior to working at ESMS and is supported by cricket internationalist and coach Katie McGill.
Mark Coles, Head Coach of the Scotland Women’s Cricket Team, said:
“It’s fantastic to see so many girls being introduced to and enjoying the game of cricket. The future of Scottish women’s cricket will be in good hands if we can continue to inspire and nurture the talent coming through from schools like ESMS.”
Mike Kane, Head of ESMS Junior School, said:
“It is incredible to have such an inspirational coach, giving up his time to run a session for the girls. Cricket is incredibly popular in the school with 125 girls playing cricket twice a week and I am hoping he will inspire the next generation of female cricketers in Scotland.
“We teach our pupils that with hard work the sky is the limit and today’s visit is a reminder of the incredible opportunities open to them.”
Thank you to Mark Coles for taking the time to visit The Junior School and our aspiring cricketers, we hope to host you again soon.
