Dateline:	25th August 2021
	Source:	Desert Springs Resort
	Subject:	Cricket at Desert Springs
	Title:	The II Root Academy Children's Summer Coaching Camp a resounding success at Desert Springs Resort

Eight (8) budding young cricket superstars aged between 12-15 years of age attended the ‘II Root Academy Children’s Summer Coaching Camp’ accompanied by two (2) coaching staff between Monday 16th – Friday 20th August at Desert Springs Resort, Europe’s only international award-winning luxury family resort and championship desert golf course with its very own dedicated ICC accredited Cricket Ground and Academy, in the Almanzora region of Almeria, Andalucía in south-east Spain.

Parent Sarah Dixon remarked of Desert Springs Resort and the training camp;

“Another brilliant camp at Desert Springs Resort with top coaching from Nick Gaywood and Sameer Nayak. The cricket ground was in top condition and the children have had an excellent week.

They have had a mix of drills and match play, with dads joining in for a game on one afternoon.

We would highly recommend this camp to all 10-14 year olds who have a real passion for cricket, as well as their families, who can enjoy all the facilities Desert Springs Resort has to offer, whilst knowing that their children are learning so much more about the sport they love.”

The focus of the coaching camp was to provide an opportunity for the players to work closely with the coaching staff on key technical skills in their batting, bowling & fielding skills as well to take advantage of the ‘Semi Open Net’ facility at the match ground to create match style situations. The culmination of the coaching camp resulted in full match scenarios.

Attendee Thomas Ness remarked of his own experience of the camp;

"The cricket ground and all the facilities were great.

The coaches were positive and experienced, and the general ambience was fantastic and the improvement I made was huge!”

Krishan Alkesh (County U14 player) remarked;

“I really enjoyed my first Root Academy Summer Camp. The facilities were excellent, and the camp has helped me improve my fielding, batting and bowling. The coaching was brilliant.”

Rory Grant (District U14 player,) said of his experience;

“The facilities at Desert Springs Resort were fantastic and I really enjoyed playing on such good wickets.

I hope to visit Desert Springs Resort again as I really loved my first visit here.

It was brilliant to get such good advice from experienced coaches like Nick Gaywood and Sameer Nayak and the villa we stayed in was excellent and I loved the pool there.”

Alkesh Lakhani Parent of his son who attended the camp commented;

“Since our son is a keen cricketer we liked the idea of combining a holiday in sunny Spain and cricket together. This is our first experience of Desert Springs Resort. The weather is awesome and the coaches, Nick and Sameer, have been fabulous with the children.

Our son has loved every minute of it, and when he is busy practicing parents and siblings get a great opportunity to soak up the sun, play in the pool and play golf.

We are thrilled with the experience of combining cricket with a holiday and would recommend it without a shadow of a doubt.”

The parents and players were accommodated in some of the privately-owned Apartments and villas at Desert Springs and the resort’s executive chef was on hand to cater for the special dietary requirements of individual players dining in El Torrente Restaurant.

 

For further information contact:

Nick Gaywood
+44 (0)7793 558 132
ng@desertspringscricket.com

	Dateline:	21st August 2020
	Source:	Desert Springs Resort
	Subject:	Cricket at Desert Springs
	Title:	The Root Academy Children's Summer Coaching Camp a resounding success at Desert Springs Resort

Nine (9) budding young cricket superstars aged between 9-17 years of age attended the inaugural Root Academy Children’s Summer Coaching Camp accompanied by two (2) coaching staff between Monday 17^th – Friday 21^st August at Desert Springs Resort, Europe’s only international award-winning luxury family resort and championship desert golf course with its very own dedicated Cricket Ground and Academy, in the Almanzora region of Almeria, Andalucía in south-east Spain.

Rico Phull, Cricket Spain Youth Development Officer, remarked of Desert Springs Resort and the training camp;

“When you turn up at the picturesque Desert Springs cricket facility, a green and lush oasis in the middle of the desert, you know you are in for something very special. 

The very first Desert Springs Root Academy Summer Camp attended by some of Cricket Spain’s youngsters, provided to be just that! 

Coached by the experienced and knowledgeable Nick Gaywood, the boys had a fantastic and fun learning experience, being coached on all aspects of the game. 

All the juniors learnt so many new skills and improved their techniques immensely, the difference was clearly visible by the end of the camp. A truly memorable experience and the kids can’t wait to come again. 

Thank you to Nick and to all the staff at Desert springs for this truly amazing experience.”

The focus of the coaching camp was to provide an opportunity for the players to work closely with the coaching staff on key technical skills in their batting, bowling & fielding skills as well to take advantage of the ‘Semi Open Net’ facility at the match ground to create match style situations. The culmination of the coaching camp resulted in full match scenarios. 

Jaime Riley, 13-year-old attendee, remarked of his own experience of the camp;

I want to say thank you to The Root Academy and Nick for the opportunity I and the other players were given to be taught and play high level cricket. I learnt a huge amount of different shots batting, such as: the sweep; how to use your feet against the spinners; how to play the ball late; not to walk when playing forward and keep my back foot in the crease. With the bowling we learnt about different variations of spin, such as off-spin and wrist-spin. We learnt about how to field and keep wicket and not to go up too soon and practised against the bowling machine, which was at 60 to 65 miles an hour. We always practised our fielding, with a lot different fun drills.

My highlight was playing the match situation against the other players from La Manga and testing my abilities against players of a high standard.

I really enjoyed the five days training and I have improved as a cricketer.

Steven Dixon, 11-year-old attendee commented; 

“Great tuition, great fun and looking forward to doing it again next year already!”

Lindsay Purdy, Parent of her sons Max and Ed who attended the camp commented; 

“We would like to give a huge thanks to Cricket Spain and Rico for the opportunity to attend and to Nick for his hard work during the week. We all had such a great time at Desert Springs.

The boys enjoyed every day and were eager to get to the ground every morning and to the Crocodile Club every afternoon!

Max thought the ground was amazing, the best he has ever been able to play on. He liked the challenges and the opportunity to work on his batting and to be able to ask Nick any question he thought of. He thought the whole camp was really good fun and after such a long time not playing cricket he can't wait to play again.

The highlight for Ed was wicket keeping, against the bowling machine. He was surprised at how fast the balls came and it has given him something to work on when he practices. He also loved seeing how far he could hit the ball and beating his brother!

Such a great range of activities with an engaging fun coach and the opportunity to play a pairs game with older players really made it an unforgettable week for the boys.

We came home on Saturday and they were outside practicing Sunday morning!”

To view the video of the interview with Joe Root, Captain, England Test Team Click Here

The players and coaches were accommodated in some of the privately-owned Apartments and villas at Desert Springs and the resort’s executive chef was on hand to cater for the special dietary requirements of individual players dining in El Torrente Restaurant.

 

For further information contact:

Nick Gaywood
+44 (0)7793 558 132
ng@desertspringscricket.com

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