3 ways to build rugby club culture
Rugby; a game for Gladiators and Scientists. A game for young kids and passionate parents. Ever since William Webb Ellis picked up a football and ran with it for the first time in 1823 at Rugby School, our physical and strategic game has continued to grow and develop at a global level. So much of today’s game is focused on the likes of Super Rugby, the Heineken Cup, the Rugby World Cup and the qualifiers to each tournament. And rightly so, it’s what any ambitious player or coach aspires to. But where do these players and coaches start from in order to progress to this sort of level? The answer, in most cases, is belonging to a community rugby club at the grassroots level. Now every rugby club may boast they have the best culture in town, and use this as a means to recruit new players from school or overseas or simply as bragging rights. But what does it mean to have great rugby club culture, and if it’s lacking, how can we build it? In this article, we are going to look at 3 ways to build a rugby club culture.
3. Promote and praise hard workers
This is a big one for me. We don’t necessarily need to promote an U20′s player to the Division 1 playing side but rather give them a taste of what it’s like to train with them. What this does is simply give that hard working player something to work towards; put more into the team’s training, playing performances, social attendance and ultimately the rugby club culture.
Likewise for a coach in a junior side – if their side has been doing well, invite the coach to sit in on a senior meeting or perhaps ask if they’d like any more responsibility. Would they like to coach a 15 minute segment with a more senior side within the club? Would they like to have a say in the upcoming social event? Basically anything that says thank you.
Not only players and coaches can be temporarily praised and promoted but that of support staff, statisticians, team managers, secretaries, the list goes on. If someone is doing a good job in your rugby club, praise them. Let them know they are doing a great job in contributing to their rugby club culture.
Conclusion
Well, there we are, 3 ways to quickly build rugby club culture. It’s certainly not rocket science but if your club is not currently engaging in either or any of the above, be sure to bring it up at the next committee meeting. It can be as simple as delegating a couple of roles to some members, putting an action plan in place that conforms to the club calendar, communicating it throughout the club and executing it.
If anyone’s got any other quick fixes, long term solutions or queries, please leave them in the comments section below, all feedback is encouraged.