What's Your Biggest Challenge in Rugby? (Players/Coaches/Trainers/Spectators)

[youmerugby]

As I try to get more and more involved in various aspects of our sport I find myself wondering if the constant problems I face and see are the same the around the rugby universe...i know this may open a can of worms so i'll try and keep it to the main 1 or 2 specifics that I experience/see personally...

As a player:

• How to personally develop and improve rugby skills when "out of the system" e.g. not part of an academy, a traditional rugby school, or feeder clubs to professional teams
• Learning the correct gym/conditioning methods to compliment and help the improvement in rugby skills

As a coach:

• The language barrier
• How to effectively pass information to youth players coming through

As a trainer/specialist (fitness, physio, doctor, etc)

• When to push players and when to hold back - especially the younger ones
• How to help players understand food choices for improving their game e.g. pre/post match, etc

As a spectator/volunteer

• Finding people to get involved with the club and help with the myriad of tasks
• Maintain playing membership across all levels but especially junior ranks and womens

For me these seem to be the main recurring problems, season-after-season, year-after-year. I know there isn't a simple solution to all of it but I'd be interested to hear what rugby problems you have to see if anyone still has or once had the same problems once upon a time and how they may have dealt with it.

 

[lucky number 7]

As a player being from the correct school is a big thing , there was a point where I was contemplating going to blackrock for my senior cycle in order to develop more as a player , not to say I'd have gotten anywhere but the standard of coaching and conditioning of players is a thousand times what we got in the country school I went to.

I'd also say when in the system unless you're a really outstanding player you will be pipped for your place on the team by someone from a School with a better name.

However my club side back home really is completely restructuring itself , the emphasis unlike many other clubs is to bring all the youth players up to the Firsts , seconds or third string teams , indeed this year there is talk of a form of Academy for the top 19's players whereby they are to train 1 night a week with the first team players and have free access to the club gym.

It's no surprise with all this work that we got promoted last season and are confident of going up again this coming year.

Coaching of a high caliber is the most important thing in a club in my opinion

 

[big ginger 8]

As a player being from the correct school is a big thing , there was a point where I was contemplating going to blackrock for my senior cycle in order to develop more as a player , not to say I'd have gotten anywhere but the standard of coaching and conditioning of players is a thousand times what we got in the country school I went to.

I'd also say when in the system unless you're a really outstanding player you will be pipped for your place on the team by someone from a School with a better name.

However my club side back home really is completely restructuring itself , the emphasis unlike many other clubs is to bring all the youth players up to the Firsts , seconds or third string teams , indeed this year there is talk of a form of Academy for the top 19's players whereby they are to train 1 night a week with the first team players and have free access to the club gym.

It's no surprise with all this work that we got promoted last season and are confident of going up again this coming year.

Coaching of a high caliber is the most important thing in a club in my opinion

Booooo!

 

[youmerugby]

@lucky

Completely hear you on that one. Had promising players from out of town move to the big rugby schools in town to further their careers through better exposure. I guess my question for you is - what kind of resource would be useful to your old country school in order to develop it's players to a high enough standard where they'd be encouraged to stay? Is it purely down to having better coaches as you say, and if so what can the school do to develop it's own coaches rather than bringing them in from outside the community?

For example, i always felt that if there was a rugby platform which brought the great ideas from around the world together, the players and coaches from smaller regions/schools/clubs could develop their game using this platform without having to be handicapped by "lack of knowledge" which the bigger schools and clubs get access too day-in and day-out.

 

[lucky number 7]

Daddy knows some people..

@lucky

Completely hear you on that one. Had promising players from out of town move to the big rugby schools in town to further their careers through better exposure. I guess my question for you is - what kind of resource would be useful to your old country school in order to develop it's players to a high enough standard where they'd be encouraged to stay? Is it purely down to having better coaches as you say, and if so what can the school do to develop it's own coaches rather than bringing them in from outside the community?

For example, i always felt that if there was a rugby platform which brought the great ideas from around the world together, the players and coaches from smaller regions/schools/clubs could develop their game using this platform without having to be handicapped by "lack of knowledge" which the bigger schools and clubs get access too day-in and day-out.

Well there are numerous methods whereby the elite country players can have a stab at going pro , for example through the Regional and then provincial club system , however from experience , these players don't get the same degree of exposure for one reason or another , the only players I know of having come through that system are Tadgh Furlong or Sean O'Brien.

Whereas many players I played with on this system would have probably made it to the top tier of underage if they had the same degree of coachingn that high end schools players get.

Now there is a big push in leinster for the improvement in Coaching standards at grassroots level and I reckon it will help alot but I really don't think it's possible for club sides or smaller schools to reach the level of the elite schools who train perhaps 4 times a week.

 

[cactus]

I agree that coaches may worry that they put too much pressure on players, especially when they're coaching younger teams. I think they should definitely encourage the players, but not so much that they begin to dislike the game. I think that's one of the reasons I didn't enjoy Rugby at school, because I didn't like my teacher!

Only other problem I've faced is that when I'm taking photos of a game, what kind of pictures do people want? Who/What should I be taking pictures of?! I just take what I feel is right and shows good moments from the game. Sometimes I will snap the scoreboard just to show the score throughout the game too.

 

[McTallshort]

At 36 (soon to be 37) the biggest challenge for me as a player is staying fit and competitive on the pitch when my mind and body are telling me that life would be a lot easier with a pint watching the rugby off the pitch.

 

[racingmetrofan]

As a player

I haven't played for two seasons, but when I did, the biggest problem all the club teams faced from U14s to Academy (up to 19) was all the public school lads being around for half/a quarter of the season, then not being able to play for us for the rest as they played for their schools. As far as I know the situation hasn't improved

And the public school kids were generally much better as they trained a lot, so it was difficult for the coaches not to select them when they were available, and it fragmented the team and the selection a bit.

Also the nature of county and public school rugby which openly dictated to lots of pretty good players 'if you play for this club team which is in this league instead of that or which is at the bottom of the top league, you'll probably lose your place'. Which completely sucked and lead to one particularly successful team finishing academy level with a squad of 90 A good deal of which were players who were told to go play their by their schools or the county.

 

[youmerugby]

Daddy knows some people..



Well there are numerous methods whereby the elite country players can have a stab at going pro , for example through the Regional and then provincial club system , however from experience , these players don't get the same degree of exposure for one reason or another , the only players I know of having come through that system are Tadgh Furlong or Sean O'Brien.

Whereas many players I played with on this system would have probably made it to the top tier of underage if they had the same degree of coachingn that high end schools players get.

Now there is a big push in leinster for the improvement in Coaching standards at grassroots level and I reckon it will help alot but I really don't think it's possible for club sides or smaller schools to reach the level of the elite schools who train perhaps 4 times a week.

I agree. So many players slip through the cracks it's a sin. In some ways I compare it to the Jamaican sprinting scene. I read a snippet from a book where Dennis Johnson (the great Jamaican sprinter turned coach) talks about how it takes four years for him to take a high school sprinter’s times down to the 10.0 level, and he has done so hundreds of times. There isn’t a magic food out there.

Scientific-based coaching, remain injury free, good genetics, a solid work ethic, and a team with a good support staff, and you’ll get those times in 4 years. Not overnight. Guaranteed.

With this in mind, if rugby players (and coaches for that matter) had access to the same pool of information as the the "elite" and were able to apply it each day/week/month I'd say many more schools/clubs/lower tier countries would be able to churn out better playing and coaching standards and not have to rely on changing schools/clubs/countries just to get exposure.

 

[Sixesandsevens]

Personally as a 23 year old player ,playing in the national leagues since leaving school, my biggest issue has been staying motivated after major surgery and injuries. The first time I was super motivated to get back bigger and quicker, I did. The next time I was depressed but managed to get back in good enough shape for 7s, the 3rd time I got very drunk very often and felt like it was unfair that I had lost all my gains and not right that I would have to work even harder than anyone else again, when I had always been one of the fittest in the squad anyway. Through that patch now (touch wood)