For most players their first experience of any semblance of organised sport or game is mum or dad in the back garden throwing out some rules to make playing with that ball even more fun that it was from the outset.
Mum and Dad may not know it, but they are coaching.
Your coach may not know it but he or she is teaching, nurturing, guiding you through the pre-established conventions of your chosen sport and imparting not only the knowledge of a lifetime but – in an ideal world – the intimately researched advice gleaned from generations of sporting heritage.
And, where heritage is concerned, Welsh rugby has it in spades.
It’s a concept not lost on Welsh Rugby Union chief executive Martyn Phillips, who has sent each of his 200-plus staff back to the start of all things rugby, with an introduction to entry level coaching – giving them each a one day taster of the Union’s official Level 1 Children’s (U7-U11s) course to ensure everyone’s knowledge of the game is bang up to date on current thinking.
Over 900 mums, dads, former and existing players and junior club coaches from all walks of life from the community club game in Wales have passed through this course in the last year alone.
Two main stream Welsh rugby journalists – the Western Mail’s Andy Howell and Rob Lloyd from the South Wales Evening Post – have also recently been put through their paces by the WRU’s coach education department and TV comedian Rhod Gilbert even made a half-hour BBC show about his adventures on the course (repeated last Monday evening, on BBC2 10pm).
What all of these people have done is get right down to the very fabric of the business of Welsh rugby each, to-a-man, has come out of the other side enriched by the experience.
So, when the WRU chief executive asked his workforce, from senior executive staff in finance, legal and commercial departments at the union to the tradesmen and women who keep Principality Stadium and its hallowed turf in trim on a year round basis, the idea was met with enthusiasm for by all.
Phillips himself is set to follow British and Irish Lion and current WRU head of participation Ryan Jones – who was present at the training day last week – onto the taster course later this summer, as the Union embarks on the process of growing the game in all its forms in the years ahead, by practicing what it preaches and upskilling its own staff.
“These are the foundations upon which Welsh rugby is built and this new initiative is about us practicing what we preach at the WRU,” he said.
“Many of our staff live and breathe Welsh rugby already and they are our greatest ambassadors, but now everyone from the painters, plumbers and groundsmen who keep Principality Stadium in peak condition to the lawyers, accountants, administrators and marketeers will be right up to date with a core function of the business.
“It is the men and women volunteering in the rugby clubs around Wales who develop our stars of the future.
“So we are asking all employees to attend a version of our children’s level 1 course and any future staff will also get a grounding at this entry level of the game.”
“Our coach development and club operations departments do a great job in supporting this vital part of the game, but it is a job that will never be finished as new players and coaches come through the system and our coaching techniques and practices evolve alongside the game.
“We have said we need more people in Wales playing more rugby, more often and with more enjoyment and we have a number of strategies in place to ensure that this happens – and more to come – but this in-house initiative is an integral part of putting those sentiments into practice.
All coaches out there in the community game are encouraged to ensure they have the equivalent WRU qualification for the level of rugby they are coaching and to continually keep up to date with best practices and also to improve their skills on the regular CPD (Continued Professional Development courses) that are run around the country throughout the year.
All courses are either fully re-imburseable via your local club (clubs are incentivised to send their coaches on courses with fees redeemed by the union and further financial rewards on offer with each new coach qualified) or entirely free to attend and the point of access.
Over 200 volunteer coaches have also attended Level two courses this year and there have been 240 CPD events throughout the season (90 more than last year), with these enthusiastically attended by around 4,500 people who met some noteable guest ‘teachers’ in Dan Bigger, Rhys Webb, Kristian Dacey, Rob Sidoli, Chris Horsman, Geraint Lewis, Jason Strange, Scott Baldwin, Aled Brew, Rhys Thomas, Josh Navidi, Peter Edwards, Stef Hughes and Sam Warburton.
The leaders award has also seen a big increase through the delivery of the WRU hub officers in schools, 60 courses saw 1,200 students qualify to deliver in the comprehensive feeder schools.
“We are extremely proud of the fact that by the end of the summer over 900 community coaches from clubs around Wales will have passed through 40 or more Level 1 courses all held at convenient venues in their local areas,” said former Wales captain Jones, who was appointed as the WRU’s head of participation in February.
“This is great news for the grass roots game, these are record numbers for our coach education department and a hugely important part of what we are trying to achieve in terms of maintaining coaching standards and raising participation for both men and women at mini, junior and youth levels and beyond.
“Wherever you look in our rugby clubs around Wales there are parents, former and current players and other volunteers with a love for the game giving up their time on a weekly basis to coach the players, supporters and volunteers of the future.
“They give up their time freely and altruistically and the courses we provide offer the invaluable resources, support and re-assurances that equip our community coaches to safeguard the future of the game.
“These volunteers who are out coaching their young teams on a weekly basis and involved in the community game each weekend are vital to the future sustainability of Welsh rugby. Anyone who is involved in the grass roots game who wants to find out more or book themselves on a course near them, should visit the dedicated website at or contact their local coach development officer.
“We have made significant progress in this area but there is much more to come as we look to re-inforce our key objective, to ensure more and more people are playing rugby, in whatever format, with more regularity and more enjoyment.”
Here’s what the Western Mail’s Andy Howell had to say about his experience of the WRU staff ‘taster’ course, held last week:
They say Wales is a nation of rugby coaches…well, there’s a bit more to it than sounding off about a match in front of your friends down the pub on a Saturday night.
As Howell has now discovered.
Did you know that all of the WRU’s 240 employees are currently being put though a “taster” coaching course to get a flavour of what actually happens on the rugby side of the business?
That’s everyone from those who mark the Principality Stadium pitch to lawyers, accountants and administrators.
It’s the brainchild of new chief executive Martyn Phillips, who said: “This new initiative is about us practising what we preach at the WRU. Many of our staff live and breathe Welsh rugby already and they are our greatest ambassadors, but now everyone will be right up to date with a core function of the business.”
Everyone including our Andy. In the spirit of openness, Walesonline’s rugby correspondent was invited to take part in a community tag leader course, designed to acquire the skills to coach children at level one.
Here’s what he learnt…
“I rocked up at the WRU’s National Centre of Excellence in the Vale of Glamorgan not having played rugby for years, but still being able to think a bit like a player.
It didn’t take long to realise there is far more to coaching than playing, that a different mindset has to be adopted.
There were nearly 30 employees on the course from all aspects of the WRU organisation, including head of finance Steve Phillips and legal eagle Rhodri Lewis.
We were split into smaller groups for a team building workshop in which we had to come up with some of the skills a coach needs.
Soon we discovered the WRU has its own buzzword: Apes. It stands for Activity, Purpose, Enjoyment and Safety. How many times have you been told about kicking the ball away?
The message came through loud and clear that coaches should be facilitators, that they should encourage players to make their own decisions on the pitch and take the initiative.
Whether it’s through playing netball with a rugby ball, keep-ball or a variety of other innovative games, it’s about getting players to see and utilise space.
In other words, it was about using the ball to beat defenders rather than attempting to run through them.
Just imagine feeling the full force of a tackle like this!
The emphasis was on enjoyment, on the importance of keeping on learning and aiming for self-improvement.
We were introduced, through a series of exercises, to tag rugby.
One game saw us split into two groups – rats and rabbits – and we were ordered to run in different directions. There was chaos at times but it was fun.
A game of bulldogs followed, bringing back memories of childhood days. But there was a serious side to it, because coaches use this age-old game to identify players with evasive foot-work and speed, and leaders who take responsibility in organising the defensive line.
The trick, we discovered, is to slowly introduce the fundamentals of rugby through a range of fun games.
Things like learning how to pass backwards out of the hand and getting to grips with the off-side law come much later. The initial aim is to teach how to pass and catch a ball
With this in mind each group had to design a ball-game for children.
The size of the court to be used, safety issues like not having the try-line to close to a wall, equipment, inclusivity, experience and age of the children to be coached all had to be taken into consideration.
The group I was in decided on a form of touch rugby. Turnovers came after three touches, a knock-on or a forward pass.
We also decided the ball could be kicked forward to a receiver, who had to catch it on the full. There were also three scoring zones. In the corners a score was worth five points with a bigger middle zone being worth two.
We had to explain it to another group, play them at it, and then take them on at whatever game they had devised.
Sitting down… now this I AM good at!
The thing that stood out to me during the workshop was that an adult must never hold a tackle-bag for a child to tackle because the difference in size and strength can make it dangerous.
First aid, head injuries, the merits of protective helmets, mouth-guards and tackle technique were among items discussed.
A practical session then took place with foot placement, hip alignment, straight back, shoulder placement and head position being demonstrated and addressed.
We were taught the importance of what the coaches who took the course called a “band of steel”, where the tackler wraps his arms around the legs of the ball-carrier, clamps them together and brings the victim down.
WRU finance chief Steve Phillips, who used to play for Amman United, said: “The course reminded me how much I enjoyed playing and was an eye-opener. I loved all the skill stuff we did.
Chief executive Martyn Phillips added: “These are the foundations upon which Welsh rugby is built.
“It is the men and women volunteering in the rugby clubs around Wales who develop our stars of the future.
“Our coach development and club operations departments do a great job in supporting this vital part of the game, but it is a job that will never be finished as new players and coaches come through the system and our coaching techniques and practices evolve alongside the game.”
So what about former Wales captain Ryan Jones, now in charge of the grass-roots of the game in Wales?
Jones said: “We are extremely proud of the fact that by the end of the summer over 900 community coaches from clubs around Wales will have passed through 40 or more level one courses all held at convenient venues in their local areas.
“This is great news for the grass-roots game. These are record numbers for our coach education department and a hugely important part of what we are trying to achieve in terms of maintaining coaching standards and raising participation for both men and women at mini, junior and youth levels and beyond.
“Wherever you look in our rugby clubs around Wales there are parents, former and current players and other volunteers with a love for the game giving up their time on a weekly basis to coach the players, supporters and volunteers of the future.”
And this is what Rob Lloyd, rugby writer at the South Wales Evening Post and U7s coach at Hendy Rugby Club, made of the WRU’s Level 1 Course:
WHAT makes a good coach? A simple question maybe, and one that has been debated in the bars of rugby clubs up and down the land from the days of David Nash and Clive Rowlands to Graham Henry and Warren Gatland.
That same question has also been posed to more than 900 coaches who have passed through the Welsh Rugby Union’s level one courses this summer.
Getting an energetic six-year-old to pass the ball to his best mate on a drizzly Sunday morning in Hendy may be a million miles away from the elite end of the game.
But it is one that Welsh rugby’s governing body are putting a huge amount of emphasis on, under the stewardship of former Wales No. 8 and captain Ryan Jones.
Jones, who was appointed the WRU’s head of rugby participation earlier this year, is one of those who has been taking his first steps into junior coaching with Mumbles.
Many others, like myself, are doing the same — trying to help those enthusiastic first-timers in an overgrown jersey and baggy shorts develop a love the game that has been at the heartbeat of communities across Wales.
Junior coaching has also come sharper into focus following a controversial report last year that suggested that tackling be taken out of the age-grade game.
“Wherever you look in our rugby clubs around Wales, there are parents, former and current players and other volunteers with a love for the game giving up their time on a weekly basis to coach the players, supporters and volunteers of the future,” says Jones.
“They give up their time freely and the courses we provide offer the invaluable resources, support and reassurances that equip our community coaches to safeguard the future of the game.
“We are extremely proud of the fact that by the end of the summer over 900 community coaches from clubs around Wales will have passed through 40 or more Level 1 courses.
“This is great news for the grassroots game, these are record numbers for our coach education department and a hugely important part of what we are trying to achieve in terms of maintaining coaching standards and raising participation for both men and women at mini, junior and youth levels and beyond.”
I was one of those 900 who have taken the WRU’s Level 1 coaching course — run over two evenings and two Sundays at Carmarthen Athletic.
Coaches pitched up — boots, pen and notebook in hand — from the likes of Neyland, Amman United, Pontyberem, Llangennech and Mumbles, all who spend hours on a Sunday morning or a midweek evening, helping develop the future of their club.
Under the tuition of WRU coaches and referees, time is spent in the classroom, making sure the right message is delivered as well as ensuring the technical aspects are soaked up on the training field.
And the best part of 22 years playing and 20 years covering rugby for a local newspaper will not prepare you for World Rugby’s Laws of the Game test.
For all the officials (well, most of them) I have dared question in these pages over the years, my profound apologies!
During the sessions, the ‘student’ coaches are asked to plan their own drills and encouraged to be adaptable, confident and positive in how they deliver the basics.
A huge emphasis is also put on making sure the sessions are fun.
The course qualifies you to coach up until the age of 13 and also to referee junior matches and is just one part of the blueprint that has been set out at the WRU’s coach development department at the Vale’s National Centre of Excellence.
This year has seen more than 240 Continued Professional Development (CPD) courses — free, one-night ‘updates’ for those already qualified and tasters for those just starting out in coaching — take place at clubs, with the likes of Wales captain Sam Warburton, Dan Biggar, Rhys Webb and Scott Baldwin among those to have made guest appearances.
“We have made significant progress in this area but there is much more to come as we look to reinforce our key objective, to ensure more and more people are playing rugby, in whatever format, with more regularity and more enjoyment,” adds Jones.
“Volunteers, who are out coaching their young teams on a weekly basis and involved in the community game each weekend are vital to the future sustainability of Welsh rugby.”
Hopefully, the six and seven-year-olds at Hendy who are getting ready to pull on the boots this autumn will enjoy their coach’s new-found knowledge and ‘crib sheet’ of training games that he will guard in his back pocket. And if there is a budding George North amongst them, fantastic.
But it doesn’t really matter. The plan to nurture the grassroots game in Wales is about far, far more than that.
