Ikgomotseng Mothoa was the Cricket South Africa PitchVision RPC and HUBS Coach of the Year.

Details:

Name: Ikgomotseng Mothoa

Age: 29

Role: Head Coach, Hammanskraal Cricket Club

Ikgomotseng Mothoa was a Premier club cricketer who moved into grass-roots coaching through his passion for bringing cricket to youngsters in South African townships.

Recently he has focused on girls cricket, going into schools with the aim of changing mindsets of teachers and girls that cricket is a relevant sport. Through his hard work he has show girls that there is a career to be had in cricket. The results have seen a dramatic growth in girl player numbers and standards at Hammanskraal Cricket Club

Last season the girls team won their Under 19s league. Ikgomotseng said the secret to their success was bowling and the mental strength to defend lower scores. He described this ability as coming from within the players, and the coaches role is to help by showing the route to success through creating an environment of self-sufficiency).

But this success was not built overnight. It starts with introducing cricket to 10 year old girls, focusing on having fun and playing games that engage the enthusiasm of girls. Through this, stereotypes of cricket "for boys" are broken down and girls develop much more quickly than boys up to the age of 14 or 15.

It's this success at breaking down barriers and developing talented girls in cricket that won Ikgomotseng Mothoa is clearly the Cricket South Africa PitchVision RPC and HUBS Coach of the Year for 2015.