VALLEY RUGBY
Thames Valley Rugby Union hosted its annual World Rugby DRC Level 2 Coaching Course in Tairua on February 18-19.
After initial concern the course may be in doubt due to Cyclone Gabrielle, road closures involving slip and tree damage were remarkably cleaned up by some fantastic work by our roading contractors and the green light to go ahead was pushed.
In total, 16 amazing coaches from all over the region attended, travelling from Ngātea, Te Aroha, Whitianga, Thames and Waihī respectively.
A mixture of coaches attended, from secondary school students, junior coaches, secondary school coaches, club coaches, females, males, young, old and people just wanting to make a difference in their community.
For a Heartland provincial union, this is a remarkable number of coaches who were willing to upskill and learn. To put this into perspective, there were other provincial unions delivering the same course over the weekend such as Auckland (a much bigger union) and a combined Whanganui/Wairarapa Bush/Horowhenua Kapiti, which had fewer participants.
Over the weekend, coaches were educated on topics such as values and philosophies, planning, attack and defence systems, game analysis, principles of play, culture, selection processes and more.
Because of the location, participants were lucky enough get down to the beach for a set piece session.
A mixture of in the classroom and on the field activities kept coaches engaged throughout the two days, and some much-needed Vitamin D meant the sunblock had to be applied. Throughout the presentations, endless amounts of beautiful food and drink were consumed and a nice Saturday night in Tairua town was on everyone’s mind.
Pizzas and chips from Manaia Café & Bar went down a treat, and so did the cold beverages which were on ice.
A big thank you must also go to our five Coach Educators and Tairua Rugby & Sports Club who put on an amazing show of fun and games. Our educators did an amazing job engaging our coaches, delivering a professional approach and showing the vision of Thames Valley Rugby.
Coaches have said that they felt “inspired”, “encouraged”, “honoured” and “made a number of life-long friendships”.
From this course, the 16 coaches now head away to their respective clubs and schools. To complete the course, they must create a six-week training programme, be observed by one of our coach educators and also complete two online prerequisites.
These people will do an amazing job in our community, and we can’t wait for them to give 320 players a quality experience and retaining them in our game.
We have some amazing people in this region and this weekend amplified that.
– Scott Day, Thames Valley Rugby Union rugby manager
