Foxes Focus - Mark Barber

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Name: Mark Barber     

Role: Head of Community Development

Department: Community Team

Years at Leicestershire: 6.5

 

About you - shutter mode

Describe yourself in three words. Pragmatic, Selfless, Dedicated

Where are you from? I’m a Leicestershire Lad, I grew up in Quorn and have always lived in the Charnwood area.

What is a fun fact about you? Proud to have been nominated for a BBC Sports Personality Unsung Hero award for coaching at my cricket club

Do you have any pets? We have a border Collie called Stanley and keep hens in our back garden too.

What is your favourite food? I’m yet to find a food that I can’t eat but seafood is my favourite.

If you could travel anywhere in the world [before COVID-19], where would you go? There’s lots of places I’d love to visit but right up there are Sri Lanka and New Zealand.

 

Life at Leicestershire County Cricket Club

Summarise Leicestershire CCC in three words: Steeped in tradition

Summarise your role in 50 words: I head up our Community Team who predominantly serve the Recreational game and aim to inspire mor people to pick up a bat and ball while supporting those already invested in the game in club and community settings. Our main programmes are Chance to Shine and ECB related.

What are your current top priorities in your role?

- Supporting the return to cricket for the recreational game

- Planning for how we can engage children & Young people in cricket in schools

What does your matchday routine involve? Our team work with the brilliant volunteers who enhance a Blast matchday experience and are on hand with the 4 and 6 cards for our spectators. We also take care of the Foxes Den area, with our amazing coaches engaging children in cricket activities allowing them to play while the matches are taking place. If we can inspire a few to find a club after they’ve practices their skills in the Foxes den, we’re on track to find future foxes.

What is your favourite memory from on the pitch? The first County Championship win in 3 seasons was great to witness.

What is your favourite memory off the pitch? Being nominated for and presented with the ECB Coach of the year award for the East Midlands in front of the England v India ‘1000th Test Match’ Crowd at Edgbaston 2018.

Where do you see Leicestershire CCC in the next 12 months? Winning more matches and growing the feeling of optimism. Turning more of the Leicestershire and Rutland Community into Foxes Fans.

Who is your Leicestershire Foxes favourite player? Past or present – We’ve had some amazing players at Leicestershire, being a bowler, I was inspired by the likes of Jonathan Agnew and Les Taylor as I was growing up and developing my game. Favourite Fox though is Jigar Naik as I have got to know him personally through the club I play and volunteer for.

Who are you most looking forward to watching on the pitch this season? Having delivered coaching at Nat Bowley’s secondary school, it would be great to see his development hope to see him cement his place as a regular Fox.

 

A bit more about you

What is your favourite holiday destination? At home or abroad? We love spending family holidays in Devon or Cornwall, such a different pace of life and some stunning scenery.

Apart from cricket, do you watch any other sports? I’ve always been a Football and Cricket fan and am constantly inspired by the great sporting moments and the stories behind them. Who isn’t inspired by Olympic athletes and their achievements??

If you could invite any 3 celebrities to dinner who would it be and why? I genuinely think I could listen to Michael Holding for hours, he was one of the reasons I wanted to play cricket as one of the great fast bowlers around when I first saw the game. An equally brilliant pundit now. Elyse Perry is one of the superstars of the women’s game and hearing her story could help with our ambition to inspire more women and girls to pick up a bat and ball.  Would be amazing to be in the presence of Nelson Mandela to hear the adversity and tribulations he faced. Understanding the strength of character required to prosper during times of adversity would provide a great source of inspiration.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time? I love spending time with our Grandson who turned 1 recently! I’m a keen DIYer, enjoy decorating and have landscaped our garden. I enjoy gardening and walks with the family. I also volunteer as a coach and committee member at my cricket club, play a little now and again too.

 

The impact of COVID-19

How has the delay to the season impacted your role? We have furloughed most of our team which makes managing a team difficult. I’ve enjoyed being closer to some of our clubs and getting to know how we can help them, moving online to most of the meetings I’ve been involved in has made things more efficient although, sometimes a face to face conversation can be more impactful.

How has the lockdown impacted your role? Those of us in the community team that have continued to work have all worked from home the entire time. We’ve become more familiar with Microsoft Teams and Zoom meetings which will undoubtedly change the way we work moving forwards for much of what we do. Having most of the team on furlough leave has been challenging as we have a pretty close-knit team, I’m looking forward to the whole team being back together and reconnecting the bonds we have.

What have you been up to during the lockdown? We have concentrated on supporting recreational cricket clubs through funding support and helping them to cut costs where possible, we’ve helped clubs across Leicestershire and Rutland access in excess of £550,000 in grant funding since. Since restrictions have begun to ease and recreational cricket has been given the green light, we have been working hard with our leagues to ensure all measures are considered and communicated as effectively as possible.

Cricket is back after the delay to the season, describe how you feel in 3 words: Come on Foxes!!