{"id":310686,"date":"2025-11-26T20:44:16","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T20:44:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/310686\/"},"modified":"2025-11-26T20:44:16","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T20:44:16","slug":"travel-with-a-smile-the-cricketer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/310686\/","title":{"rendered":"Travel with a smile | The Cricketer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"topicSummery\">Phil Lewis, Director of Sport at King\u2019s Taunton, explains why they use Smile Travel to organise their school\u2019s cricket tours&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"320\" class=\"img-fluid\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/smilegrouptravel261125.webp.webp\" alt=\"smilegrouptravel261125\"\/><\/p>\n<p>PROMOTIONAL FEATURE<\/p>\n<p>Organising a sports tour is no tick-box exercise, it\u2019s about creating experiences that inspire athletes, build confidence, and strengthen teams.<\/p>\n<p>Smile Group Travel specialise in delivering high-quality tours for schools and clubs, taking care of every detail so staff can focus on players and players can focus on their sport.<\/p>\n<p>With a reputation for professionalism, smooth logistics, and real value, Smile has become a trusted partner for schools and clubs across multiple sports.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Their tours not only develop athletes on the field but also foster resilience, independence, and lasting friendships off it.<\/p>\n<p>Phil Lewis, Director of Sport at King\u2019s Taunton, reflects on the role of tours in his cricket programme and why Smile has been his school\u2019s go-to partner for more than a decade.<\/p>\n<p>Why are tours important to your cricket programme?<\/p>\n<p>Tours are a vital part of our programme as they allow players to compete in new environments, test themselves against strong opposition, and experience different playing conditions.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Beyond the cricket, tours build team cohesion, develop leadership, and create shared experiences that strengthen our culture.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>They also replicate the demands of elite sport &#8211; travel, preparation, and performance &#8211; which is invaluable for player development, especially for those with professional ambitions.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Most importantly, tours create friendships and unity. In fact, we recently won a national title after a tour, underlining just how effective the preparation can be.<\/p>\n<p>How do sports tours benefit the players?<\/p>\n<p>Tours accelerate both personal and sporting growth. Players learn to adapt quickly, build resilience, and take ownership of their performance.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Being away from familiar surroundings encourages independence, accountability, and teamwork. On the field, they face varied tactics and playing styles; off the field, they gain cultural experiences and form lasting friendships. These moments often have a lasting impact on their sporting journeys.<\/p>\n<p>How long have you worked with Smile?<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve worked with Smile for around 12\u201313 years. Tom Webley (one of my closest cricketing and school friends) and I were both Directors of Cricket searching for new touring venues.<\/p>\n<p>We joined a reccy trip with Smile to Sri Lanka, booked a tour the following year, and haven\u2019t looked back.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Since then, we\u2019ve toured Sri Lanka, La Manga, Barbados, France, and South Africa across cricket, netball, hockey, and rugby\u2026 with exciting plans still ahead.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This October we\u2019re heading to Portugal for a golf tour, followed by a senior cricket tour to South Africa. In October 2026, we also have a girls\u2019 netball and cricket tour planned for Barbados.<\/p>\n<p>Over the years, Smile have been a trusted partner, consistently delivering high-quality, well-organised tours that align with our sporting vision.<\/p>\n<p>What makes you select Smile for your tours?<\/p>\n<p>Smile stand out for their professionalism, attention to detail, and understanding of sports teams\u2019 needs.<\/p>\n<p>They combine excellent facilities with smooth logistics, allowing us to focus on the players and their performance.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>We can always rely on them for exceptional service, clear communication, and a genuine partnership approach.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Accommodation, transport, and fixtures are always well thought through, and we feel we get real value for money without corners being cut.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.smilegrouptravel.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Click here to know more about Smile Group Travel\u00a0<\/a>or email at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecricketer.com\/Topics\/promotional-feature\/mailto:info@smilegrouptravel.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">info@smilegrouptravel.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Your comment &#8230;.<\/p>\n<p>Post Comment <\/p>\n<p>Please ensure all fields are completed before submitting your comment!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Phil Lewis, Director of Sport at King\u2019s Taunton, explains why they use Smile Travel to organise their school\u2019s&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":310687,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,740,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-310686","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cricket","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-cricket","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=310686"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310686\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/310687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=310686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=310686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=310686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}