SWD's assistant strength & conditioning coach, Daniel Seha

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

Tell us about South Western Districts cricket at the moment?

We are currently in the process of preparing our senior provincial team for the Africa T20 Cup and the CSA provincial competitions. Our pipeline is strong at the moment, with our regional performance centre winning the centre of the year at the CSA awards last year. In terms of the senior team, we have signed a few promising youngsters from the CSA centre at Fort Hare University, which will mix well with some very experienced campaigners in our set-up. The SWD region is rather large, requiring at times for players to travel quite far for training – this, however, shows the commitment to cricket in the region [that] the coaches and players have.

You have just been appointed as the assistant coach, and strength and conditioning coach for the SWD senior team. What does this role entail and how important is this for the modern cricketer?

Yes, I have. I joined about two months ago. My job is multifaceted – with being the assistant coach as well as the strength and conditioning coach. I assist the head coach in all preparation for the senior team – we act as a team, bounce ideas off each other – but at the end of the day, I need to make sure that the programme the head coach is implementing is successful. He gives me space to express my strengths in the coaching department as well.

I am in charge of the full strength and conditioning programme for not only the senior team but the pipeline as well – so in terms of warm-ups, recovery, injuries, pre-season training and in season maintenance I need to make sure our professional cricketers are not only fit enough to perform, but able to perform repeatedly for the duration of the season.

With the increasing professionalism of sport, I firmly believe that we need to gain every advantage we can to be one step ahead of our opponent – and being fit and strong as a modern cricketer enables you as a player to perform all of your actions faster and with more power. However, the key is being able to do that repeatedly over a long duration.

What excites you about the opportunity?

Being able to express myself and showcase my skills and abilities at this level is very exciting. However, I think the most exciting part is how much I am going to grow as a coach and as a fitness trainer – without growth, you will not be successful. Growing and learning and adapting is very exciting. I think what is key is finding the balance between expressing your ideas and knowledge, but being open-minded to learn and grow along the journey. The whole experience is exciting for someone as passionate as me.

What are the challenges you face?

I wouldn’t call it challenges as much as hurdles – and the biggest hurdle for me is understanding that as much as you may think you know, you will never know everything, and you will most likely fail at some point. Once you can overcome that hurdle you will use the small failures as opportunities to adapt and learn and grow.

What are the goals and aspirations for this position?

To build myself a name in the industry and prove I can be successful at this level.

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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SWD’s assistant strength & conditioning coach, Daniel Seha

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