Why set up a blog about my coaching? I’m only 27 and in the early years of my coaching career, so I don’t have the wealth of experience to pass onto the next generation. I am that next generation coming through. This blog is a more tangible way of reflecting on my own personal coaching journey and philosophy. Alongside that personal opportunity, I think anyone reading this is given a chance to reflect upon any good and bad practices that they see here and use it to develop their own philosophy. This blog is not me claiming to know it all, far from it. It’s a way for me to document my philosophy and coaching journey, and to potentially use it as a platform for sharing the things that I’ve found successful.
I currently coach at grassroots and university level. Women and girls rugby is one of the fastest growing sports in the U.K and women’s sport, as a whole, is currently experiencing a boom. It’s exciting to be at the ground level whilst this is happening and see the growth in women’s sport, the support it’s now getting at all levels from the very top of governing bodies to local clubs, parents and spouses. My first opportunity to play rugby came at University. Now the generation of girls have a choice of youth rugby teams around them, to go and try rugby and other sports and they have icons to look up to who are more readily accessible on TV. This wide ranging support is crucial if women’s sport is going to become a long term success, not just for one generation of women and girls but for multiple generations. A tangible legacy.
During my work it’s encouraging to see how many people are backing women’s rugby at a grassroots level. Grassroots has to be a success and it can’t simply be measured by how many children and young adults have been selected on talent pathway programs from local clubs. It has to start with grander ambitions than that: as many girls as possible picking up a rugby ball. It can’t simply be about the next generation of top level athletes, we have to think that the girls playing rugby are the next veterans team when they’re in their 40s, they’re the next chairman’s at rugby clubs, the next mini and junior coaches, they’re taking their children to rugby games and to the park for a throw around with a rugby ball when they’re 20/30. They’re the younger generation getting a love for being active, running around and playing sport. By helping grassroots grow, it means more people are fit and healthy, which in the long term is better for their physical and mental health.
At the start of the 18/19 season the University side I coach set up a partnership at Huddersfield YMCA RUFC and became a feeder club for the YM development team. The partnership is a great way of getting ladies to play more fixtures. The way we structured it for the 18/19 season was having a couple of games to test the waters, one of them being in January 2019 before the BUCs League started back after Christmas. January has typically seen a drop in numbers for the university side as there have been no immediate games to look forward to. Therefore, as a tool to add retention and to make sure the players dusted off the cobwebs after Christmas, I scheduled a January fixture. This proved successful as we had very little drop in retention for players compared to previous seasons, we won the fixture and went into the BUCs fixture with a boost of confidence that I believe played a part in the University side having a 5 game winning streak for the post-Christmas games.
I often refer to the body positivity that occurs within women’s rugby. It’s a major selling point when all around people are images selling the notion that there’s one “ideal body” and one “ideal way to be fit” and that involves a tiny waist. Rugby is a game for all body types, more than that, it celebrates all body types. People of all body types are needed, they come together, play for each other, and be there for each other on and off the field. For this Summer, I wanted to launch a programme of recruitment to get more people from the town to compliment the recruits from the university. For this, with the help of RFU funding, I set up a free women’s bootcamp. This combines circuit, high intensity fitness, some rugby fitness, and fitness games that incorporate rugby skills without it being shoved in attendees faces. The idea is to get women at the club who might be put off with the word “rugby” and any negative associations they have with it. The bootcamp gets women getting fit together, learning rugby-type skills and supporting each other. If they wish to stay after the programme but don’t wish to play rugby there is no pressure to do so. We’ve just entered our fourth week as so far we have reached a high of 12 attendees. This may not initially seem like much, but with the knowledge that this is the first programme of its type to be run at YMCA (possibly Huddersfield), it’s slow and steady but positive numbers. As part of the women’s bootcamp/recruitment programme and emphasising that women’s rugby is for all body types, I launched a social media campaign called #findyourownfit. This encourages women to shun the idea that there is one way of being fit, and urges them to find their own fit, what fit and healthy means to them.
This is just a taster of what life, and each week entails and hopefully it’s a good introduction to what I’m trying to achieve by having this blog. Being a Head Coach of the University Women’s side, a Director of Women and Girl’s Rugby and Rugby Development Officer means juggling a lot of development projects, developing player’s potential and looking after pathways all at once. It means each day is different and each day I’m helping people to discover a new sport and to uncover their potential.
Grassroots and Up 