DAVID MEIRING JOINS CDCA TEAM
More than a decade’s hands-on experience in the provincial heartland of Central Districts Cricket will put David Meiring on the front foot in his new role as Coach: Central Districts A and Pathways, announced today by CDCA.
Meiring joins CDCA from a solid career on and off the field for Manawatū Cricket Association — having represented the District Association as a player, and later captain and player-coach, for more than a decade, until announcing his retirement last season.
Palpably passionate about developing processes and pathways to help other players and coaches reach their full potential, Meiring has also chalked up a decade’s worth of experience behind the scenes of MCA.
He started as a Junior Development Officer back in his early 20s and worked his way up to Director of Cricket — his role for Manawatū over the past 15 months.
Now 33, Meiring says he is excited and grateful to have the chance to foster coaches and players throughout the dynamic CDCA region in his new role.
"There are two halves to the job, and one is working with CD’s eight Districts Associations to improve systems for developing emerging players and coaches.
"It’s not only about identifying those players and coaches, but finding Coach Developers — the people who will provide coaches within those Districts with the opportunity to improve, who then provide the players in those Districts with more opportunities to improve.
"For me, that’s an extension of much of the work I’ve been doing at Manawatū Cricket Association where I’ve been working on both coach education and representative pathways within the region, so I’m really looking forward to being able to help put those plans and processes into place across the wider region. And, building new relationships with our talented and passionate network of people in those regions already."
Meiring’s other hat will be coaching the CD A team that the prolific top order batsman himself represented between the 2008/09 and 2014/15 seasons.
A third generation representative cricketer and scion of noted cricket school Palmerston North Boys’ High, Meiring’s grandfather was the remarkable Tom Pritchard — who played 170 matches for Warwickshire among his 200 first-class caps, while his mother Julie Meiring represented England’s West Midlands Women in the 1980s. Meiring himself went on to play two Plunket Shield, three Ford Trophy and three Super Smash games for the Central Stags in 2014/15, giving him first-hand experience of the drive and processes it takes to reach the top of one’s game.
"The Stags have got such a strong squad at the moment that it’s a terrific challenge to break into it — and means we also have a very strong CD A squad knocking at their door,” says Meiring. “That makes it exciting for me as a coach because it’s certainly a talented group of CD A players to be working with. It’s important that they get quality opportunities and resources to develop their game and to keep pushing their case for first-class and List A cricket honours."
To a degree, Meiring will have a head start on getting to know his players, given he has played with and against the majority of the squad.
"I’m cognisant that doesn’t mean I necessarily know the person behind the player very well, so one of the things I’m really looking forward to now is sitting down and having a proper conversation with a number of those players to start us on our journey this season. I also need to earn their respect, as those beyond the Manawatū region will be finding out about my own skill set and who I am as a coach."
Despite only recently having hung up his own bat and gloves, Meiring doesn’t think he’ll feel any pangs to be out there in the middle again once the season kicks in proper.
"It will be my first experience of not actually playing in the game, so that will be a change, for sure. But the time was right. If I hadn’t retired at the end of last season, I would not have gained this CDCA opportunity at this time of my life. I feel very fortunate that I’m stepping into a role that I feel so passionate about.
"I’ve also thoroughly enjoyed my time with MCA and I’m very thankful to everyone I have worked alongside there for the opportunities they have given me to develop over the past 10 years. My CDCA role is based in Palmerston North, so I’ll still be seeing a lot of them which is nice."
CDCA’s Manager: High Performance Lance Hamilton said Meiring was an outstanding candidate for the position.
"Dave is a passionate Manawatū and CD man, having played his whole representative career for Manawatū, along with having featured for the Stags across all three formats of the game.
"He brings extensive knowledge of our unique region, alongside his existing relationships with all of our stakeholders, through his work as Manawatū’s Director of Cricket.
"We had many quality applicants apply for this role and, from our perspective, being able to make an appointment from within our own wider network was a very satisfying position to be in."
As coach of the CD A side, Meiring will be following in the footsteps of CDCA Coach: Performance and Talent ID Aldin Smith who will be leading the Stags’ Plunket Shield and Ford Trophy campaigns this summer. Meiring will begin his CDCA role on Monday 7 October 2019. CD A’s fixtures for 2019/20 will be announced at the start of the season.
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Article added: Friday 13 September 2019
