Saracens to run girls coaching day

Support for coaches

Almost everyone gets involved in coaching in some way or another. As a regular player you may be asked to help at school or college or in a demonstration events, parents who know something about the game may be asked to assist at training, if you study PE at any level you'll need to know about coaching plans, and obviously you may end up becoming a coach.

There is quite a lot of help available on the internet, especially for introductory coaching, and there may soon be a whole lot more as the RFU are looking at providing their coach support through the new www.rugbycoachingdrills.com website. This has been running for a year already as a commercial service, but that could change over the next few months. Quite how is a little difficult to work out from a long but otherwise unhelpful press release from the RFU - but basically we'll know more from about January.

In the meanwhile - and especially if you ever have to do any coaching with a bunch of beginners - US Rugby's Rookie Rugby website (http://www.rookierugbyclub.com/home) is well worth a look. This supports their version of tag, and has lots of videos (including this wonderful news report about a girls rugby team based in the famously dodgy area of Harlem, in New York) but it is especially useful as it has three weeks of lesson plans for introducing rugby to children of all ages (page down to number 7 in the list of resources), including warm-up drills and game activities. So if you ever have to work with develop a coaching programme for any group of young players, especially if its tag, its all there on a plate for you.

<<<< A number of other coaching resources can be found in the list of links in the left-hand column.

The benefits of integration

All the fuss and bother about men's and women's national rugby governing bodies "integrating" or "merging" must seem a bit dull and uninteresting. Something that happens a long way away and has no effect on the rugby you play.

But it is remarkable what effect these agreements made between aged former players in musty committee rooms can have on your rugby - and how quick these changes can happen. In England we are actually running a little behind most other countries - full "integration" does not arrive until next year, and even then RFUW will retain a degree of independence - so it is interesting to see what effect the full mergers in Scotland, Wales and Ireland have had on their rugby. At all levels.

Scotland was the most recent country to see the men's and women's boards swallow their differences and mutal suspicions when they joined together just months ago, but the effect of the merger is already being seen at grassroots level. One of the first rugby development officer posts to be advertised in Scotland since the merger has gone to a women - Lindsay Smith - who will now be responsible for developing rugby - both boys' and girls' rugby - in Renfrewshire (a large area of the country west of Glasgow). Scottish Rugby Union development targets and schemes - which Lindsay will implement - now include targets (and money!) to develop girls' and women's rugby which will be having an immediate effect on club rugby, and the national team within a few years.

Wales is slightly further down the line, but those who were at this year's RFUW Regional championships will have seen how much Welsh junior rugby has improved since the girls have been fully included inside the WRFU's development programmes. The best Welsh regions are now as strong as the best English regions at both U15 and U18 level. That talent has not quite worked its way through to the U20 level, but improvements in the organisation of the adult team has already seen Wales overtake France to become Europe's number two nation (not bad for a country that failed to qualify for the 2006 World Cup!).

Ireland too has seen a huge growth in junior rugby. It is only three or four years ago that Worcester toured a land where junior girls rugby was a rarity - that would not be case now. And - like Wales - even before the new junior talent has moved into the adult game access to better organisation, coaching and resources has seen the Irish national team rise to unheard of heights.

Will the same thing happen in England? We can only hope it will - but what seems planned is different to the Home Nations. All of the above three countries seem to benefit enormously from a "big bang" new beginning - we won't be getting that. It will be a slow and careful integration which almost seems designed to leave things as little changed as possible. It seems designed to be almost unnoticeable - a change in national shirt design here, the disappearance of separate men's and women's news on the website - but will there be changes to the regional structure? Will we have a single team of development officers covering both sexes? Will you notice the difference in the same way as your Scots, Welsh and Irish counterparts have? At this point we don't know...

Forwards the key to success

You may remember discussion at the end of last season about why our "originals" did so well when they started. Obviously they may have all be geniuses, born to play the game, and lead by an amazing coach.

Possible, but unlikely.

The other suspicion some of us have had is that for the first couple of seasons we (by chance) happened to have very forwards-based teams. This was partly because we happened to have players who turned out to be pretty good forwards, but mainly because the first few coaches had a good idea about what forwards did but were a bit shakey when it came to the backs.

In fact as I recall we spent hours on tediously dull things like body position in the scrum, as well as endless rucking and maul drills - mainly because I understood those bits of the coaching manual rather better - and because its all technique so its much easier to coach (stand there, push here, lean like that, wait a minute while I turn to the next page... etc.)!

I mention this not as an excuse for another trip down Memory Lane, but because some remarkable information has come out of a study of last year's men's Six Nations (it would be nice to think that similar studies were done on the women's tournament but somehow I doubt it). It is a bit of a truism in rugby to say that you cannot win without effective forwards - the best backline in the world is no good if they do not have the ball - and it seems that the champions, Ireland, were perfect examples of this.

They did not exactly major in flowing passing moves by their backs - in fact very few Irish passing movements contained more than three passes (only one every 38 moves, compared to one in 15 for the other teams!). In one match they made just 82 passes! On the other hand Ireland was by far the best rucking team team - only turned over over seven times in almost 500 rucks and mauls! - a ratio far better than any other team.

The moral from this - and our own experience in our first season - is that success is dependent on getting the forward play right. Win your scrums and retain the ball at the breakdown and even complete novices can be competitive. So - if you are unsure what position to play next season - be a forward.

Familiar face to run three quarters of the compass

Those of you who make it to region may find a familiar face managing one of the opposition teams. 

Apparently Joe, having returned to college, has now taken up the offer to coach the Gloucestershire county team and the manage South West North region. As Joe has already worked with East he now has a complete set of cardinal points for his CV!

Seriously this is quite a coup for our Joe. His new (if clumsily titled) regional charge takes in an area stretching from Dorset to Gloucestershire - an area that has produced several England age group internationals in recent years, along with at least one national U15 champion club, while his county responsibility is an area with huge potential but something of a troubled history.

We can, however, confidently expect that South West North (and Gloucestershire) will have one of the best packs in the game. If Joe could achieve what he did at Letchworth, think what he can do with the pick of four counties!

And all because he came to watch Rosie play one afternoon...

What makes a good captain?

A question that many have asked, and which Total Flanker today answered in his inimitable style.

You might care to look through this article and think how accurately it describes Letchworth Girls' captains, past or present. However, I was particularly struck by the last line:

"For all of the above reasons scrum halves often make very good captains."

Many a true word... (etc.)

"Its better to miss one game than the whole season"

This is the central message behind and superb resource produced by the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). CDC has produced a whole package of advice leaflets, videos and guidance on dealing with head injuries and suspected concussion which they are sending free to all US High Schools - but fortunately for us it is also available free online.

The package includes a video that underlines the importance of the subject, and leaflets aimed at coaches, parents, and players that highlight the signs and symptoms of concussion, and the action that should be taken - advice that is worth repeating here:

Signs Observed by Coaching Staff:	Symptoms Reported by Athlete:
Appears dazed or stunned Is confused about assignment Forgets plays Is unsure of game, score, or opponent Moves clumsily Answers questions slowly Loses consciousness Shows behaviour or personality changes Can’t recall events prior to hit Can’t recall events after hit	Headache Nausea Balance problems or dizziness Double or fuzzy vision Sensitivity to light or noise Feeling sluggish Feeling foggy or groggy Concentration or memory problems Confusion

Take a look at it. This is not just a rugby matter - head injuries can happen in any sport or activity - even falling out of bed! Such a clear describtion of the symptoms could be invaluable.

Simon Hill : Letchworth Girls coach 2007/8

Just over 13 months ago, the girls at Letchworth Garden City RFC were introduced to their new coach for the 2007/8 season : Simon Hill. It was quite a day for everyone - not least because we all had to get to know the whole new language of Quasi-English (or Kiwi, for short). In the early days it was not unusual to see a training session grind to a halt when Simon called out a fresh instruction (at least for long enough for the girls to get an explanation of what he'd meant). It also took a while for Simon's more abrupt style of language ("... if you do that again I'm going to kick your arse!") to be fully appreciated. Like most significant changes, it takes a time to understand how things are going to turn out .....

Simon continued the inclusive approach of previous coaches Joe and John to make sure that all of our players get as much match time as possible while taking part in as many tournaments as we can and striving to do well in them. Individually, taking part remained the main ethos with the team striving to improve their performance collectively. In doing this Simon involved several first team players in coming to the girls training sessions to help them improve specific aspects of their play and this has had a major influence not only on the standard of play but also in building friendships across the club which is fantastic for the girls teams. The results certainly reflected the 'team performance' approach with the majority of good performances coming toward the end of the season. Overall, it was a mixed bag of victories and defeats (played 38, won 17, drew 3, lost 18) but there was a collection of good results in the major tournaments and the occasional trophy along the way :

RFUW Divisional 10s : 2nd
RFUW National 10s : 4th
RFUW London and South-East 7s : Plate runners-up
RFUW Herts 7s : 2nd
RFUW National 7s : 5th=

So, on the field, we saw the team working together better and better as the season went on. Meanwhile, off the field, Simon continued to impress with his vast array of special talents ..... for example, at the Awards evening, he showed himself to be the smooth, cultured chap we'd always suspected (you can see how pleased Wonky was by his expression) :

and who could forget the end of season party? Not just for the sartorial ellegance that threatened to overwhelm us all but mainly for the Haka that Simon and Mike performed ...

Quite a season ... but it doesn't end there. Simon is, we now know, always looking at the world and seeing how it could all be so much better so he is never short of ideas on what to do next. It's also just possible that a few people may have noticed that Simon has an occasional tendency to tell them in, shall we say, a forthright way if he thinks they are not getting things right! His attitude may well be summed up as "People do stupid things because they don't realise what a bad thing it is to do (in which case someone needs to tell them) or because they don't care (in which case someone needs to tell them that they ought to care)" Not that I've ever been known to have an attitude like Simon's, of course. Not me .......... well, not this week. So far ........

Anyway, Simon certainly 'got on with the job' himself : he coached the North Herts Tag rugby team for the Hertfordshire Youth Games, he provided coaching for secondary school girls in Letchworth and Stevenage, he organised a Tug'o'War team -

- and a touch rugby demonstation at Rhythms of the World -

- and he devised, organised and ran the Letchworth Schools Tag Rugby tournament which involved over 500 9-11 year old girls and boys at 6 different schools being trained and culminated in a 4 group, 28 team tournament at the Letchworth club in July. The feedback from all of these events has been great - the students, teachers, parents and sponsors have all let us know how successful they felt the events had been.

Of course, as it was the last event he was to be involved in this season, Simon also received a few gifts - a Wasps shirt and a Saracens shirt from the girls section and a bottle of something interesting from Katie who is similarly leaving the girls team this summer (in her case due to old age i.e. she's 18!)

So how do I sum up Simon? In Simon I see what I should have been more like when I was younger (... er, quite a lot younger in fact). I suppose I'd sum him up by saying that he is fun, honest, caring, generous, charismatic as well as being a complete looney ..... oh heck, he's just a really good bloke and the best mate you can have.

Today, Wednesday, I took Simon and Kirsten to Heathrow airport to catch their flight back to New Zealand. I'm really going to miss them. Fortunately, I won't have to miss out on the infamous text messages - I get more messages from Simon than from everyone else put together - and I'm hopeful that, eventually, I'll be able to understand one.

To Simon and Kirsten, I say "Thanks for everything you've done for us this year" and "Good luck" in everything you do in the future. I really hope that we will see you back in the UK before too long for there are many, many people who will miss you. Otherwise, we'll be coming out to Christchurch to find you!

Obsession - your name is the side-step

This is close to being one of the maddest rugby websites I have ever seen. Its also close to genius. And moreover it is of some practical value.

Rugby-sidestep-central is a website about... the sidestep. How to do it, how its been done in the past, great heroes of sidestepping, sidestepping around the world... need one go on? Apparently so because Peter Dawson (a man who loves to use bold text at every opportunity and the slightest excuse) does indeed go on about it. At length.

There are also videos and explanations and even some stuff about rugby in general, but basically if you read more than one or two pages of Peter's opus and are still unable to sidestep then... shame on you!

Coming soon: rugby kit that fits!

At long last a company has been set up that recognises that girls and women are different shapes to men, and that rugby kit designed to fit the latter does not always fit the former. However its not the design geniuses at giant companies like Canterbury or Kooga who have spotted this, but a former player running her own small sports clothing business in London.

Katy Miller, owner of Divasport, began recently with women's sizes and designs for things like tour t-shirts, and has now announced that she will soon be expanding - producing not only playing shorts "without the big baggy bit at the front" but also full kits as well. It is intended that the range  to be launched shortly throughout the UK- will be totally dedicated to women, providing what Katy calls "proper sportswear and accessories, proper sizes, and excellent prices!".

Katy has set up a Facebook page (quite the in-thing this, isn't it?) as well as a website - the latter also providing a noticeboard for women's club news and events (apparently we will be on there soon). Worth keeping an eye on, especially if you have anything that needs replacing for the new season.

How well do you know the laws?

Think you know the rules of the game? Learn Rugby Laws is an excellent little website that will see what you really know. Included in the site are the usual discussions, links etc. - but the heart of it all is a quiz that will test anyone. The test keeps a running tally of how you've done, and you're given an overall score at the end.

There are two types of questions:

Law Questions which test knowledge of specific, individual Laws, for example:

There are [BLANK] off-side lines at a maul.
A. one
B. two
C. three
D. four

Scenario Questions which test comprehension and application of the entire spectrum of Laws.
For example:

In general play, a Gold player on the half-way line kicks the ball into Blue's in-goal area where it stops one meter from the touch-in-goal line. A defending Blue player, standing with one foot in touch-in-goal, picks up the ball. What do you do?

A. Award a drop-out to Blue; a drop kick taken anywhere on or behind the 22-meter line.
B. Award a scrum, with Blue throwing-in, where the ball was kicked from.
C. Award a scrum, with Blue throwing-in, five meters from the goal-line and five meters from the touch-line.
D. Offer Blue an option of either A or B.

The database currently has over 500 questions - enough for any quiz night! - with full explanations for each answer. Give it a go...

The ultimate rugby video collection

Another interesting way to pass a few spare minutes can be found at http://rugbydump.blogspot.com/.

Dozens - maybe even hundreds - of short video clips (well, not that short - ten minutes in some cases), with new videos being added almost daily. And all categorised - "Big Hits", "Great Tries, "See it and believe it", "Highlights and winning tries", "Try savers", "Great skill", etc. from around the world.

If you've missed an international chances are there may be some highlights on here. If someone talks about a famous try from the past, then it could be here too. If you are looking for a video that demonstrates some coaching point then this could be a good place to start.

Well worth a look.

The ELVs explained

Remember the ELVs? The stack of "experimental" law changes that come in next season? Well the IRB have produced what is comfortably the most accessible and understandable guide to what everyone is likely to have to cope with from September.

The IRB Guide to the Experimental Law Variations is a well designed full colour guide which goes through all the changes in a logical order, with plenty of illustrations. The guide (which is dated August 2008!) will eventually be supported by a series of videos - though these are not yet available.

This really is essential reading for everyone - including those who stand on the touchline (so that you know what is going on!).

Are you Rugby Ready?

The IRB have launched a new online resource which "aims to support individual coaches, referees, players and Unions in preparing to play the game and with good practice models for physical conditioning, technique, injury prevention and injury management."

Rugby Ready is an impressive and comprehensive package. Its not a detailed coaching resource - but it does cover the basics of things like tackling, rucks, mauls etc. by means of photos, video, and quizzes. In addition - and perhaps more importantly, as this is the main aim of the resource - it looks at physical conditioning, injury management, getting ready to play, equipment (highlighting the need for things like mouthguards - though I imagine that after last week no-one at Letchworth will ever forget one again!), warming up and warming down, lifestyle, and so on.

Its all free, attractive, well laid out, and well worth a visit - whether you are a player, a coach, an adminstrator, or a parent. Take a look.

RFUW summer conference at Hatfield

The RFUW will be holding four "Divisional Club Conferences" to provide a training and development opportunity for club volunteers in June. These excellent conferences include a variety of sessions for everyone, from players to officials to helpers and administrators - and this year one of them is right on our doorstep, as the South East and London will be at at Herts Sports Village in Hatfield on 28th June

Further details will be sent out during April, but the costs are low - and anyway chances are we'll happily pay for any parents or players interested in attending. So if you are interested in going please let me or Mike know asap, or for more info about the day contact Gemma Ryan at the RFUW on 020 8831 6788 or at gemmaryan@rfu.com.

Is this the best online guide to playing rugby ever?

Take a look at this.

A couple of US students - Lyci Hillman and Catherine Foo - have produced a staggeringly brilliant guide to playing rugby - and moreover a guide for specifically girls and women playing rugby - that for simplicity and clarity knocks anything else dead. The actual writing is a bit ho-hum, but the combination of photographs and computer-generated images used to cover pretty much all the basics - from what to wear to how to tackle, form a scrum, and basic tactics - is amazing.

Its astonishing - to the extent that you wonder why its not been done before. I know there some good illustrations in various official coaching guides, but these are invariably a) buried away inside expensive printed resources, and b) tend to feature exclusively large, muscular and - above all - male athletes. This guide uses - in its photos and excellent computer-generated diagrams - exclusively female figures, something that I cannot recall seeing anywhere else before.

But it doesn't end there. Whereas the illustrations in official guides are invariably surrounded with all sorts of copyright restrictions, the two authors - who have now gone on to bigger and (persumably) better things - have also allowed anyone to use their images for non-commercial purposes. So if anyone ever needs an illustration to cover a specific coaching point then this would seem to be the perfect place to start.

Coaching courses

For any of you girls who would like to take a level 1 coaching course but have been somewhat put off by these being done on Sundays when you want to be playing for the club, there's some good news : there is now an intention to run level 1 and level 2 coaching courses on Saturdays if sufficient interest is shown.

Obviously, in return for the course being paid for by the RFUW, those who take it will be expected to do some coaching for girls rugby at schools or clubs.

Also please note that, as far as I understand it, you need to be at least 16 years old to do these courses.

If you are interested, please let Heather know.

Random snippets

A few bits and pieces of news from here and there....

• First - any coaches (or prospective coaches) should be aware that there is a FREE "coach development evening" on Monday at the club from 7pm to 9pm. It will cover "front row and coaching contact". If you want to attend contact Dave Roberts.
  
  
• On a related theme confirmation that our new Club and Coach Development Officer (see below) will be Andrew Skipper, who will be covering Herts, Essex, and Eastern Counties. His brief is pretty wide ranging, but his interests will include those of you with (or thinking about acquiring) coaching qualifications. Incidentally one of his major tasks will also be to try to bridge the gap (gap? Grand Canyon more like!) between junior and senior clubs - a real issue for those of you turning 18 in the next year or so.
  
  
• Although that is nice and clear for East Region, I understand that Bedfordshire will have a different CCO from the rest of East Midlands as Maggie Alphonsi's "London" brief will include Berks, Bucks... and Beds. Slightly odd definition of "London"!
  
  
• Staying with county matters, Essex have confirmed that they will aim to get out a U12 team to play Herts at the Essex County Festival on 18th November - so definitely something for U12s to aim for.

• Due to fixture clashes with their new league Welwyn U18s will again not be at Rochford this season (their U15s will be). With Saracens also in a league it is therefore possible that we will be defending the Hertfordshire cause alone against all comers!

• Finally, details or travel arrangements for our trip to sunny Dorset this weekend shoudl be finalised tonight - but be prepared for an early start (c7.30am)!
  

This 'n' that...

Some short snippets of news here - some good, some less so...

• Coaching. Message from Danni:

  "I'm really sorry to do this to you at the last minute, but I have recently got a new and very demanding job, that involves me occasionally working late nights and travelling. As a result I will not be able to make a full time commitment to coaching the girls. I would like to take this chance to thank you for the oppertunity, and would be delighted to coach them in the future when my schedule is not as demanding!"

  In practice we knew that Danni would not be able to be with us every week, so its not in practice going to cause too many problems - especially with Simon and Kirsten around. And once she has settled in we'll hopefully see her. Until then - best wishes to her in her new job.
  
• Barbeque. To confirm that there is no BBQ tomorrow as Simon and Kirsten have to be away in the afternoon. Suggest you discuss with them an alternative date.
  
• New "Half of Fame" addition. As some may have heard on Wednesday Randy will be available for us for most weekends. The even better news is that she is very involved with rugby in her Corps - REME. Indeed she sounds as if she is one of the leading players in the junior squad, and already has a place in the senior squad waiting for her when she turns 18. As REME are possibly the leading rugby unit in the army (certainly in women's rugby) this is pretty impressive, and only one step away from the British Army team. Could Randy be our first player to pull on a national shirt?
  
• Finally, spare a thought for... the players from Trinidad, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands due to play in the third Women's Caribbean Championship starting tomorrow in the Caymans. After months of preparation the entire event has just been called off - due to a hurricane. It sounds pretty chaotic with bits of various teams diverted at the last minute to various islands, or trying to get out of the Caymans having only just arrived, or being simply worried about what state their own islands will be in even if the hurricane misses wherever they currently are. We may complain about ice and snow, rain and mud, but at least we know the buildings will remain standing...

Coaching courses

Many of you are intersted in taking your Level 1 coaching course (Steph, Katie and Nim did this last season). The dates are now out (see the Herts blog). Courses are once a month - but note that the closing date for the first course is next week.

You will not have to pay - either the club will, or there are grants available. If you are interested (and over 16 on the date of the course) let me know.