Youth coaching and game management philosophy - is this acceptable?

[Dunhookin]

Aw shucks Zoot - there you go showing your tender, caring side - ya squidgy little Kiwi munchkin...!

Yeah - my therapist says that I'll always be pulled out of shape by this - because the nasty black men poleaxing O'Driscoll didn't get summarily decked at the time...now that would have been therapeutic!

 

[Zootalaws]

Aw shucks Zoot - there you go showing your tender, caring side - ya squidgy little Kiwi munchkin...!

Yeah - my therapist says that I'll always be pulled out of shape by this - because the nasty black men poleaxing O'Driscoll didn't get summarily decked at the time...now that would have been therapeutic!

I see.

O'Driscoll had this to say about it:

Do you think you were targeted, deliberately taken out? - No.

Do you think they meant to injure you? - No.

So it wasn't malicious? - No. It was two guys trying to put down a marker in the first minute. But it was incredibly careless.

I'm sure he is in a better position to know than you.

 

[Blindside]

Interesting thread.... i have coached senior rugby for 20 years and have more recently taken a interest in junior coaching, though still coaching seniors as well. What i have realized in senior coaching i am only rearranging the deckchairs, while when i coach kids, i have the potential to steer the ship when it comes to individual development. In that in senior coaching changing the path of the individual is extremely difficult. Their minds are mostly wired up. Team wise, i can improve systems, but what effect does this have on the health of the game when the players i coach have usually already missed the boat. Junior coaching is a different ball game and potentially more rewarding. Although ironically i get financial reward for senior coaching

I would say that in Wales at least the resources and level of coaching instruction in junior rugby is often abysmal.

Regarding the original quandary. it all depends on what has happened throughout the season and the way you have managed the squad. There should have been times when your better players were removed, where the opposition was weaker, so that less prominent players within the squad were forced to step up and contribute. There may be teams where the lesser players would then make way for the stronger players to have their time in the sun against the strongest teams. Players must have the opportunity to prove their worth and improve, its a balance, but teams should also have the avenue for success. If you sat back and viewed over all game time throughout the season i would hope there would be a balance to enable bthe huge games to involve the big game players.