Tom Smith – What The Future Holds

After leaving school at 16, I took a modern apprenticeship, completing an NVQ Level 2 in Plumbing. Since completing, I have not really put much thought into what I would like to do after I finish playing cricket and a career in plumbing has never filled me with excitement.

To help me try and figure out what I would like to do in the future, I discussed my options with my Personal Development Manager, Rachel Newnham. It quickly became apparent that I wanted to stay working within the game, and coaching looked like an exciting prospect.

In 2007, I completed my Level 2 Coaching Award and, to gain entry to Level 3 I needed to do a bridging course. The course was very worthwhile and good preparation for the Level 3 Award. It was also a great opportunity to meet other people who were on the same path as me and would also be moving on to the Level 3 course.

After finishing Level 3, I sat down with Rachel once again and discussed other interests I could pursue. I decided that I wanted to complete another coaching qualification, but in a different sport so as to broaden my experience and provide more opportunities to work within schools. Rachel advised completing Level 1 Football coaching as this would be very beneficial. The course was basic, but it did throw up some interesting angles on coaching, which were very relevant to cricket.

This winter has been extremely busy for me. As well as undertaking the coaching qualifications, I used my weekly day off from Middlesex training to further my work experience in the City, at Insight Investment. After a work experience placement there last winter, I was invited back to do a similar role as part of their Absolute Return Fund Team.

To complete my busy winter, I also ran the Brighton Half Marathon to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support. My Dad was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma last February and Macmillan have been fantastic and have supported us throughout this difficult time.

I was extremely fortunate that two good friends and fellow cricketers, Andrew Hodd (Sussex CCC) and Ollie Rayner (Middlesex CCC), plus their girlfriends, wanted to run with me to support Macmillan.

It was a great day and together we raised £2,571.

If you would like to donate, it would be greatly appreciated. Please see below for our Just Giving pages.

www.justgiving.com/TomSmith11
www.justgiving.com/Bethany-Langridge0 (Ollie Rayner)
www.juastgiving.com/Andrew-Hodd0

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