South Western Districts' Daniel Seha on a life in strength and conditioning

South Western Districts’ assistant strength and conditioning coach, Daniel Seha, featured in SA Cricket magazine’s October-December 2018 issue. Here is part three of the full transcript of our interview with Daniel back in September 2018.

How do players relate to a younger person giving them advice, and how do you prove your value to the players and the backroom staff?

Many people have asked me about my age – but I do not see it as an issue or challenge in any way. I am confident and knowledgeable in what I do – and I show that through my work. I believe in earning your stripes, therefore I do not think that I need to prove my value in any sort of way, I go about my work in a professional and confident manner and I back myself and my abilities and the players feed off that energy.

I believe my age is an added advantage as I am able to connect well with the players and relate to them. One of my strengths is being able to read people and adapt accordingly – we have young players who have just finished school, as well as experienced and successful franchise players in my team. The key is being able to connect with them individually – and I think my young age gives me the energy and passion to do so.

Tell us about your experience with the Namibian Cricket Teams – any interesting experiences or anything you learned from that experience?

It was a massive learning experience in every sort of way – I grew as a person and as a coach. I am very grateful they gave me the platform and foundation to grow myself in a high-performance setting as such a young coach. It was an opportunity I could not turn down working in national structures at my age and I had to grab it with both hands. My biggest learning curve was attending the 2016 edition of the Africa T20 Cup as member of the management staff at only 21. There is no room for error in the pressurised environment of professional sport – and that energy and intensity fueled me, and I came back ready to work harder than ever before.

You have worked with men and woman cricketers. What are the different needs they have in terms of strength and conditioning?

In all honesty, I do not think there is a big difference between males and females. I think there is a massive difference between people in general. Each person and personality is different – each athlete’s body reacts differently to different training programmes and diets. It is all about managing the specific player and their needs, based on who they are as a person individually.

Tell us your own work as a cricket coach and what your approach to coaching is?

I base my coaching on certain personal values – however, I do not think there is one philosophy or style that a coach should base his approach on. Therefore, I would say that my approach to coaching is one which is adaptable, being open-minded and willing to grow, but one which also plays to your strength as a person.

How does your appointment assist with objectives such as CSA’s player performance plan?

My job is effectively creating athletes and cricket players for franchise level. Therefore, everything I do is to create better and stronger players so that franchises have more options to choose from. My appointment is rather important for CSA’s structures – as it filters down from the Proteas through us all the way down the pipeline.

Daniel Seha is the new assistant strength and conditioning coach for the South Western Districts senior cricket team, in line with Cricket South Africa’s commitment to enhance senior provincial (SP) cricket in achieving the objectives of the player performance plan (PPP).

READ ALL THREE TRANSCRIPTS OF THIS INTERVIEW WITH DANIEL

Photo: Daniel Seha

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Daniel Seha: a life in strength and conditioning

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