In the final of our interviews with women in prominent positions in the Club as part of the 20X20 initiative, we sit down with our Director of Coaching, Isobel Joyce. Clontarf are delighted to announce that Isobel will be returning to her role in 2020.
Before looking forward to next season,
can we take you back to last year. There were probably a few eyebrows raised round
around Leinster when the news broke you had made the move across the Liffey to
take up the role in Clontarf. How did it first come about?
I think you’re right; a few people were
surprised that I decided to move clubs but a few things contributed to me
choosing to go. The first thing that happened was that Keith Sinnott, who I got
to know through my work at Trinity, called to see if I had any interest in the
role. I think he expected me to thank him and say no outright, but having
already decided that I was going to bring an end to my international playing
career, a change of scenery seemed like a good idea for the following season.
What was it that enticed you to make to
the move?
I had worked on the coaching side with
Merrion Cricket Club almost all of my adult life and a new challenge was really
appealing to me at that point in my career. Clontarf were implementing new
plans to improve every aspect of the club and were very supportive in what I
thought were the best ways to move forward.
Two more things attracted me: the prospect
of helping an up and coming women’s section to keep progressing and the
opportunity to coach one of the most successful men’s First XI teams in the
country.
Your role is multi-faceted and involves
playing with the Women’s First XI. What is your impression of Women’s cricket
in the club?
I think women’s cricket in the club is in a
good place. It’s clearly supported at the highest level in terms of how the
club as a whole is being run. We have some top-class talent for the younger
girls to look up to and we also have some older players and supportive parents
who help to keep everything running smoothly. One thing we have that I think
other clubs would envy us is the competition we have for places which means
people have to stay on their toes and train hard.
The average age of the players in the
Women’s teams is quite young, have you seen a development in their game and are
you confident the Club can retain the players and avoid the dreaded “drop-off”
that often occurs?
Clontarf is one of the only clubs around
that seems able to retain female youth members into their teenage years and on
into adulthood, which is a very precious commodity – if we could bottle it, we
would make a mint! There are plenty of opportunities for these younger players
in our women’s teams and there is a great transition from the youth programme
into the women’s teams. I think one of the reasons this side of things works so
well is the fact that the coaches taking youth games, like Emma Butler and Anna
Kirk, are then playing with the girls when they come into the second team which
makes it much less daunting.
You have a role in Cricket Leinster for
the development of women’s cricket, how do things look at provincial level as
we move into next year?
Attendance at Winter training is very good
with plenty of players looking to work on technique in the off season. Lots of
the Clontarf girls are adding to their skills and vying for spots on teams for
next year, and there are a few exciting opportunities coming up for them that
I’m sure will keep interest high as we continue to compete with other sports to
keep and attract players.
As Director of Coaching you are
responsible for all coaching from end to end in the club. How would you
describe the youth pipeline in the terms of the girls and boys coming through?
It’s a very exciting time for the club. The
effort that Robert Forrest put in ahead of the 2019 season in putting in place
our schools programme paid huge dividends and we are extremely lucky to have
him running that side of things, as well as a lot of the operational end of
youth cricket.
Belgrove Boys won the Leprechaun cup with a
number of Clontarf coaches leading them to the trophy, and that kind of connection
with schools in the area is invaluable. The textbooks all say the same thing,
you have to get into schools with the coaches that will actually be there when
those kids come down to the club, and we have a great team of coaches who can
provide this service from end to end, which means we have had a huge influx of
youth members at all ages.
Through the season, we saw constant growth in
the number of kids coming down to the club of their own volition just to train
and play at the boundary edge and I think that is always the sign that a youth
section is in a good place.
There are lots of coaches within the
Club, how do you, working with others such as Robert Forrest ensure that the
sessions are delivering the right blend of sessions for the development of
various age groups?
Bobbo and I would be in constant
communication about the right way to go about things with different groups, who
the best people are to work with those groups of players, and if things are not
working, we work well together to come up with a solution. While Bobbo works
more on the organisational side, he has done a huge amount of coaching and
knows a lot of the players himself so he is a great resource for me. One of the
things he does well is help to bring on the younger coaches, give them
opportunities to get their qualifications and develop as coaches.
Coach Development is still something that I
am quite new to and I hope to be a better resource in this area for the
Clontarf coaches going forward.
Who would you say are the “ones to
watch” coming through into the Women’s and Men’s teams in the next few years?
This is a very difficult question! There
are so many players that I could mention, but it often comes down to who wants
it the most as opposed to who has the most talent. On the girls’ side, I think
that Ana Marshall and Jenny Wilson. They both put a huge amount of extra time into
their games last year and showed that they have ambition to go far. Ana’s
brother Ethan is also an extremely hard worker and has the talent to go places
to boot.
Freya and Gemma Sargeant both had a
fantastic 2019 season and I expect big things from them both going forward. Another
family that is putting in a lot of work is the McNallys, both Julie and John
came on a huge amount last year.
My last mention goes to the Butler family,
all of them possess a great competitive nature that means they are great to
have in your team whether it’s as a teammate or a coach.
A big part of your role is as the Men’s
First XI coach. How did you find the transition into that role coaching a
senior side for a full season?
I’ve been involved on the playing and
captaining side of a lot of women’s teams, from U13 girls to Women’s 1st
XI to Ireland at a World Cup, but I’ve never worked with a settled men’s team
with a huge amount of experience behind them and so I was constantly learning.
It was definitely a challenge, and one that
has taught me so much. It would have been easy to stay in my comfort zone but I
knew that if I wanted to progress as a coach, this was the way to do it. It was
an opportunity for me to learn from a new set of players as well as those
players learning from me.
While the 2019 season wasn’t a golden
one in the First XI’s history there were a lot of positives in terms of youth
players transitioning into the team. How would you see the 2020 season shaping
up in this regard?
It started out as a tough year but I think
the balance sheet ended up in the positive. A lot of younger players got their
shot; even more pleasing was that, for the most part, they took their shot. There
was a real feeling of looking forward to seeing what we could achieve in 2020
as well as the knowledge that there are a few more youngsters who will be
knocking on the door before long.
It’s going to be a different team next year
without the retired Billy Coghlan. His brand of humour and the way that he
played the game was something that has become synonymous with Clontarf Cricket
Club, and he will be missed. But now it’s time for other players to fill his
boots and make their mark.
The fact that a number of younger players
were blooded in 2019 means that we are in a good place to have a young team,
but not a completely inexperienced one, going forward.
Everyone in Clontarf was very proud to
see David Delany transition so well to the Irish team, have you been impressed
by his development as a fast bowler where he showed the value of the Interpros
in impressing the selectors?
I think if I had asked all of the Clontarf
members what their greatest wish was when I first came to the club, it would
have been something to do with David fulfilling his potential and breaking into
the Irish team.
I was really pleased with his decision to
play for the Northern Knights. I thought it was a good fit for him personnel-wise
and it gave him the chance to bowl at the strongest batting line up in the
Interpro competition, the Leinster Lightning.
Davy always had the ability to make it at
the top level but I think the turning point for him was when he played the T20
Quadrangular series in Malahide against Scotland and The Netherlands, because
that was when he realised that he also has the drive to make it at that level.
I’m delighted he has done so well and excited to see where he goes from here,
the sky is the limit.
Finally, none of us have a crystal ball
but do you have any specific goals for 2020 for the Club across the various
elements of your role?
I think goals are meaningless unless you
come together with your team to decide upon them. Ahead of the season I’ll be
meeting with the coaching team and the First XI squad separately to discuss our
goals as two teams going forward. Now that we’ve had a bit of distance, we’ll
take stock of last season and move forward from there. It’s always a team
effort and it takes the whole team to achieve a goal, regardless of what it is.
