Rugby Club Issue 52 | Page 13

RFU RFU COACHING & Education C Coaching & Educatio n oaching is one of the most crucial factors in developing, sustaining and increasing participation in rugby union, securing the future and quality of the English game. The RFU is committed to offering a worldleading coaching development service, from helping volunteers who want to coach junior tag rugby on a Sunday morning to assisting people who aim to reach a professional coaching standard. RFU Head of Game Development John lawn took the time to tell us more about what they are able to offer. He started by telling us about his involvement saying, “I started working for the RFU in 2001 as a Rugby Development Officer. The opportunity to work in sport and specifically the sport I played, coached and enjoyed was one that I couldn’t turn down. It’s a very diverse role and because of that it is very rewarding. We provide training and development for coaches, referees and pitch side medics. I think the biggest challenge is keeping our courses fresh and current and making sure that we maintain a big enough team of rugby educators and developers to service the training programmes we run.” Structure “We have a structure for both coaching and refereeing. This includes entry level/foundation courses. People can come along and do a two or three hour course. They find out more about the role, get the chance to ask questions and most importantly it gives us a chance to remind them what great fun and enjoyment they can have but also what a tremendous responsibility they are taking on. We take player welfare really seriously and insist that anyone wishing to get onto the coaching pathway through our award courses does some player safety training first. Our initial refereeing training courses are about getting people out onto the grass and letting them have a go at making decisions and managing the players. We are really fortunate that there are a number of referee societies across the country. If someone wants to take their refereeing more seriously they can join their local society. They will be observed, coached and can join together with other referees and receive really specific training.” Aims and Objectives “Player safety runs through our courses and as a result of people attending our programmes we hope that they are more informed and more capable of providing a positive environment for the players to learn and enjoy. We also want to contribute to retaining people in the game. Our Rugby Development Officers really help us to understand the training support that our clubs, schools, colleges and universities need. They work with www.sportip.biz 13