FROST THE PERFECT ROLE MODEL Warwickshire players could not have a better role model for personal development than Tony Frost, the county’s batting and Second XI coach. Frost has just started a Masters degree in Applied Sports Psychology at Cardiff Met University, a three year part-time course which he will combine with his coaching duties at Edgbaston. The former wicketkeeper/batsman hopes that the course will benefit Warwickshire as he will be able to apply new skills from the course in his coaching role but they might also lead to Frost becoming a registered Sports Psychologist in the future. ” It’s something that I discussed with Lynsey Williams, our PCA Personal Development and Welfare Manager, during the summer,” Frost said. ” I had already developed an interest in sports psychology towards the end of my career when Mark Greatbatch was our coach and he gave me the book ‘Golf is a Game of Confidence’ by Bob Rotella. ” That really kick-started my interest and doing my Level Four coaching took that interest further. ” I spoke about various options with Lynsey and we decided to go for the course at Cardiff Met. I got in touch with Dr Owen Thomas and he suggested I went down for an informal chat. ” I applied and the rest is history. I guess being part of first-class cricket for 21 years and having the PG Dip with Level (Post Graduate Diploma) from doing the Level Four coaching also helped. ” My main reason for doing this is to help here. Hopefully it will make me a better coach and give me a better understanding of sports psychology to help these lads improve. ” We have talked about the whole process of becoming a registered sports psychologist but the main motivation is to help me become a better coach.” Frost has just completed his first 10 week module which meant trips to Cardiff on Mondays before Christmas. Frost hopes to complete three more modules during the current academic year, three more next year and a dissertation in his third. ” It has massively put me out of my comfort zone. The Level Four did anyway as it helped me to understand myself and to mature a lot more. But this is another step up,” Frost said. When Frost first joined Warwickshire in 1994 he was studying for a BTEC in business and finance at a college in his native Stoke but he gave that up to fulfil his dream of becoming a professional cricketer. ” I was not really thinking about education then. It was just cricket, cricket, cricket that is all I wanted to do and I have been lucky enough to be involved for 21 years,” Frost said. ” Looking back now, quitting college wasn’t the most sensible thing to so. Ironically I have now got the opportunity to do this and cricket has given me that opportunity. I can’t complain but I wouldn’t advise doing it this way.” Frost initially trained as a groundsman and spent a year working on the ground staff at Edgbaston before he was lured out of retirement by Warwickshire’s then director of cricket Ashley Giles. When he retired from playing a second time, Frost took up coaching and is now well-placed to ensure that current and future Warwickshire players appreciate the importance of having a personal development plan in place. ” Personal development is massively important,” Frost said. ” It can take a bit of pressure off your cricket. It’s crucial to have something behind you because, as we all know, a career in professional sport can end quite quickly. ” We are lucky at Warwickshire that the club are very supportive and Lynsey Williams talks to the players a lot about the importance of making sure that they have something behind them. ” You can’t make anybody do anything but you can try to push them in the right direction. It’s important to have a rounded lifestyle and to learn at an early age the things that you like and dislike.” {{ak_sharing}}
