It’s boom time as Chris finds tomorrow’s stars
TEN years ago Chris Ellison started Performance Cricket as a means to provide pre-season cricket sessions for preteens.
A decade later he’s a managing director of a business that offers coaching for players from four years old to adults, and has even started venturing into other sports.
England Young Lions skipper Euan Woods – a star this winter in Dubai – is one of those to have benefited from the Berkshire-based coaching company.
And Ellison admits he had never expected the venture to take off the way it has.
He explained: “It will be ten years this April, we started when I was director of cricket at Henley Cricket Club and wanted to provide a pre-season programme for youngsters.
“We started at Shiplake College – where we’re still running sessions – and it’s gone from there.
“We just wanted to give the lads an opportunity and it spiralled.
“Now we’re working alongside cricket clubs in the area and we’ve got three full-time members of staff.
“We’ve even branched out into other sports with our coaches doing tag rugby and tennis.
“Over the last three or four years I’ve gone from a coach to a managing director, but I’ve got great support around me which has helped.
“Euan Woods is one who has done some cricket camps with us and it’s great to see these young guys succeed.
“But for us that’s one end of the spectrum, and just as important is working on life skills. It’s part of our philosophy to teach more than just the sport.”
Ellison’s own journey has been an unusual one, having worked with the ECB as High Performance Coach for Physical Disability for four years until 2014.
He stepped away from that due to the increasing demands it placed on his time, but hasn’t ruled out a return at a later date.
He added: “I worked for the ECB and the Physical Disability team, going on a couple of tours over four years.
“I’d not done much work in disability cricket – just a little bit linked to my degree – but I think it was the philosophy that we had developed at Performance Cricket that appealed.
“I made the decision to step away because I have a young family, and had to put my wife and three young kids first.
“They have advertised for a three-year full-time job so it wouldn’t have been possible to keep doing all I am now and be there for my family.
“But perhaps down the line when the kids are at school it’s something I might come back to.
“The good thing about Performance Cricket is that it develops coaches as well as players. We’re very proud of the guys who have gone on to work with Berkshire and in other places.”