Effective Community Coaching- Ten points for consideration

Introduction -?There is so much coaching advice available, however I thought I'd provide some simple points applicable to coaching rugby at a community level. There are key differences to a professional club, where time is more plenty-full and expectations of players and support staff are very different. In reality at club you are lucky to have 2-3 hours a week plus match time with the players. Players are playing for many different reasons and hence will have very different levels of motivation.

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1.Environment and Culture

Often this is something you want to address but just don't have time for. However it's what you critically need to understand, and then discover how it influences the players "why" and the coaching opportunities for the team. Then assess how you can influence it in a positive manner.

2.Playing Philosophy

Keep this really simple. Your technical tactics need to be simple and uncomplicated with a plan A and a plan B that everyone understands. Plan B can be a simple alternative for when plan A isn't working! Make sure your game plans fit the capabilities of the current players you have, working in your current context. If you are flexible, you can gradually build the tactical opportunities with time, but stay uncomplicated and be patient.

3.Training sessions

Make these fun with lots of game play. Resist the temptation to make training sessions "lessons" think more about leading the players on a voyage of discovery so they really learn. Run short "skill zones" that you can then introduce into training game play through adjusting the rules or "constraints" of the game. Consider judging your sessions by the numbers attending training not the number of games won!

4.Athletic Development

A very difficult challenge at a community club where so often the gym is rarely used ( if indeed the club has one). To some extent training with tempo will get players fitter without realizing it and you can build athletic development and injury protection into warm ups (about 20 mins) using methods such as the RFU activate program. However players should "do a personal fitness sessions to be fitter for rugby rather than just play rugby to get fit. They will need help and without the luxury of an S&C a simple core body weight fitness plan will really help. Some players will be at the gym several times a week while others never. A simple 20 minute home or lunchtime workout 2-3 times a week can really help, on top of club training. There are a host of apps out there that could help you with content and communication for this.

5.Video Feedback

Players and coaches both need feedback. If you provide this to players some will take it on board, while others will not "see it" unless they can see it themselves. Therefore video feedback is essential to allow most players to engage in assessing their actions during a game. It also helps you as a coach motivate yourself when you see the opportunities to improve.. don't fix on every mistake made and try and catch people doing things right!

The real opportunity is getting players to engage in watching back the game and assessing their actions before asking for feedback from their coaches.

6.Player Profiling

Is is critical to catalogue the strengths and development needs of the players, assessing both their skills and ability. This enables you to build an understanding of both your players and the teams capability. This will feed back into both your playing philosophy and your recruitment plans. Is your game plan realistic for your team to deliver?

7.Squad Size

I'm sure many people will argue the point but i believe you need 35 players (particularly if you need another 25 for a second team).?

This comprises of:

Front row : 9 ( trained to safely play the game )

Second row: 4

Backrow: 6

Scrum halves: 3

Fly halves: 3

Centres: 4

Wing backs: 6

Many of these players will be interchangeable and your team development, needs to grow the players into comfortable first choice and second choice positions. However understand at any one time 5-10 members of this squad will be unavailable due to injury or family commitments.

8.Recruitment and retention

Recruitment needs to be constant but should really commence in February for the new season. The player profiling exercise should highlight player shortages by position, the possible development opportunities and whether the players are likely to be with you next season.

Additionally you need a coaching support team and a good team manager.

Retention is about making the players feel valued and recognised! But you must recognise the value of retaining players to grow your squad especially if you operate more than one team.

9.Technology and time

Time is a scarce resource and technology must help you. Essentially it must be via a phone. Any detailed presentations or plans should be converted to a "pdf" for effective formatting. "Dropbox" will do this for you automatically and provide an easy access point for all team documents and information to be obtained.

The use of "WhatsApp" groups for communication can help and there are a host of platforms for sports teams to help manage availability and coach them."Spond" is just one??such app.

Training sessions need planning and periodising and again there are all sorts of rugby training templates ( I find "Sportsplan" useful).

Team meetings can be held virtually using "microsoft teams" or other apps, or in person after a training session if they are short and sharp.

For fitness, apps such as Adidas Fitness and Strava and Ruck Science can help and engage a group together to share fitness goals.

Video feedback using the "Veo camera"to record without an operator helps, but does have its limitations. However it does now works better for rugby and allows you see clips of scrums, lineouts and tries automatically, and you can clip individual "plays" to highlight to players or coaches. This saves having to buy a seperate platform??to communicate with and provide feedback to the players.

The main thing is you use the technology to be organised and protect the limited training time you have on the field.

10.Social Media

This links directly back to culture! Your club needs an image that your players want to identify with and feel proud of. What makes the club special and fun to be part of? Does it have a USP (unique selling point).Can someone, or a delegated player group communicate this effectively over social media? They must, as this will affect your club Image and your ability to recruit and retain players, harness your players to help drive it!

Conclusion

Community rugby is an amateur sport not a professional sport and trying to provide professional training and support in the limited time available is a science in it's own right! The most successful coaches keep it simple harness technology and make everyone feel good about being on the team!