Mini Rugby - Keeping It Real
As a developing coach working with children what do you need to know? Do you need to be a technical guru? Do you need to have played the game before? Do you need to dedicate huge amounts of time to coaching? In the distant past in the old RFU level 1 and Coaching Children Qualifications we used to deliver a unit called 'The Role of a Coach'. This was an informative unit that highlighted how diverse the role actually was. Here’s a shortened list example...
Motivator, organiser, entertainer, kitman, referee, administrator, enabler, counsellor, facilitator, role model, oh and rugby coach…
Here’s what Conor O'Shea has to say on the key attributes of any coach.
Let's be realistic though, not all of this will come overnight! We should be approcaching our coaching journey step by step. Why not start with these three focus points over the next few training sessions!
Be Consistent
Win or lose as a coach you must be consistent, don’t forget that children model and copy behaviour. They watch everything and mimic what they see! A key aspect of this is the ability to stay positive. Treating success and failure as the same value and with the same behaviour is a really tough skill! Coaches are human beings who do get carried away by what motivates them, forgetting that sometimes winning is not what motivates the young player. Just being with their friends can be enough – having fun is an outcome of good coaching.
Keep It Structured
To keep training sessions exciting whilst also great learning environments it’s important to put the player at the centre of the lesson plan. Planning your sessions has to be one of the best ways to learn how to coach and how to create sessions that meet their needs. They are also essential for you as the developing coach to fall back on your plan, we all know that sessions sometimes go off piste – you just need to be prepared for it.
Encourage Rugby At Home!
We have only 2 hours per week to develop a rugby player so having fun and developing those rugby skills at home is another way to add value to what we are doing! Share ideas with parents so that they can Home-Coach and enjoy playing games and creating fun rugby related activities with their children.
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