Coaching
My name is Tony Brooke and I am the Rugby Chairman and Club Coaching Co-coordinator, which means that I am responsible for the coaching organisation, development and implementation throughout the whole club, with two main areas of focus:
The Seniors
We have put a structure in place designed to ensure that players at all levels within the senior part of the club who have the ambition and desire to succeed and improve can be confident that they have the opportunity to do so. In support of Head Coach, Paul Britton, there is a team of coaches who are providing team coaching for all teams that want it.
Club training is on a Tuesday night where all players who want to train are encouraged to do so, with attendance by the First XV Squad essential. Team training is on a Thursday evening in preparation for fixtures on a Saturday, covering strategy, organization and structure.
None of this will work without the attendance of players and that will only happen when they see that there is a transparent selection policy based genuinely on Ability, Attitude and Attendance. In addition to this, the intention is also to provide support and assessment on most match days throughout the club ensuring that the new, transparent selection policy can work.
Off the back of this we operate a genuine First XV squad system which incorporates both the First and Development XV teams with coaches having specific areas of responsibility covering fitness, defensive organisation, set pieces and backline development. The coaching team is keen to make this whole senior squad into the development squad that we need to go forward as a club, both now and in future years.
The Youth Section
This already has a very successful structured set up, a statement that is further supported by the table of coaches in each age group.
Here my role is to ensure that coaches are qualified to an appropriate level and to encourage those that are interested to progress even further. The list of currently known local courses is under Courses in this section of the website. We are able to access courses in neighbouring counties, so speak to me if you have a problem attending a local course.
I see my most important task as ensuring that greater lines of communication open up between all age groups so that we can all learn from each other, share best practices and, of course learn from our own, and each others', mistakes.
To this end, each month there will be a Coaching Forum at the clubhouse where we can all meet and talk, usually based around a concept, presentation, demonstration or DVD. These will usually be the third Monday in the month at the clubhouse, unless stated otherwise and all contributions and suggestions are welcomed and encouraged. This year’s Forum schedule can be seen to the left of this article under coaching.
In the last couple of years we've had some interesting evenings which have been successful and covered diverse subjects, including a practical coaching demonstration from Nigel Horton of England and British Lion fame, and a series of 'Coach the Coaches' sessions delivered by Dave Larham of London Wasps. I hope to get Dave back for further sessions this year and our first proper session of the year was Duncan Hodge, Kicking Coach to Scotland who held a kicking clinic at the club on Monday 24/11/08. December saw our first Coaches' Forum where we reviewed the ELVs and how they are affecting the game.
Part of my remit is developing a strategy for each age group as they encounter the new changes as they progress within the club, which will be annually reviewed from feedback from previous years and including any new changes year on year. This will be developed via the Coaching Forums and in hand with a Coaches Induction & Improvement Programme which has recently been developed and can be viewed in detail under the separate heading to the left of the page.
The final area of responsibility is the reviewing and purchasing of equipment required for the club.
Tony Brooke
Rugby Chairman and Club Coaching Co-coordinator
August 8, 2010