At Rajasthan Royals, cricket is not the only center-piece when we look to develop our players and youngsters. Every quarter in a year, we meet our Royal Sparks and Colts to hold a clinic with them to sharpen their soft as well as hard skills. Right before Christmas, the Royal Sparks got together for one such clinic where they learnt a lot about how soft skills help them in their game and overall development. A special guest met them on Day 2 of the clinic as well. The quarterly clinic was held right outside the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, at the RCA Academy Ground. Day 1 of the Clinic started with an educational session on soft skills for the Royal Sparks. Rajasthan Royals believe “Education and sports go hand in hand, which helps in building strong characters and leaders. Royals Colts & Sparks are a great way to engage the youth, develop talent, and potentially find the stars of the future. Through the course of the 2-day clinic, the Sparks were exposed to skills as diverse as teamwork, time management, empathy and delegation.We put the Sparks through match situations that demanded the best use of soft skills. The Sparks made conscious efforts to work towards positive body language, effective communication and efficient team work. The practice matches were designed to bring many of these skills to the fore and included the following .Time limitation for each innings were imposed, for sparks to work on time managementA Junior team vs senior team match allowed the former to take up leadership roles, communicate and take the team together to victoryThe Sparks showcased solid teamwork and practised team motivation throughoutDay 2 saw a motivational talk by India’s Muay Thai professional and India’s Top 100 achievers’ - Richa Gaur. She hails from Jaipur and many of the Sparks have followed her story over the years.The sparks learnt about the importance of positive focus on physical fitness, optimal use of time and resources for growth, and overcoming challenges by developing confidence. As she was a famous face in Jaipur and came from an individual sport, the girls gained a new perspective of how women in sports can reach great heights. The sole aim of the quarterly clinic is to fine-tune these young minds into confident individuals and really good human beings above all. Cricket is a team sport and without soft skills, a game can go haywire for any team. The Sparks left the clinic with new-found knowledge on a lot of attributes they can add to their repertoire while playing cricket.Soft skills refer to both character traits and interpersonal skills that influence how well a person can work or interact with others. Very often, we hear or read about the importance of team-work and how players need to gel with each other. In the IPL, where every year teams have new members, it becomes all the more important for soft skills to be stronger than ever. These include social emotional skills, critical thinking and skills that facilitate positive interactions with teammates, coaches and the ability to overcome challenges and problem-solving.
