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Youth coaching and game management philosophy - is this acceptable?
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<blockquote data-quote="Zootalaws" data-source="post: 828218" data-attributes="member: 61187"><p>I agree.</p><p></p><p>Not to harp on about it, but my son, from an early age, was fixated on a particular sport he had seen as a kid on the olympics. He joined the RAF, in part, because they offered that sport. He trained and tried out and in his first year was second in the championship and won the inter-services ***le against the army, navy and marines (yes, I know they are navy, but they compete separately).</p><p></p><p>In his second year he swept the board, including inter-country forces competition.</p><p></p><p>He was thrilled to bits to find out that there were to be trials for the uk team. He applied and didn't even get to go to the trials. He didn't come from a university athletics background and so wasn't considered as even a viable candidate.</p><p></p><p>He approached the NZ association and they said he could have a go and afterwards, put him in the Europa cup competition, where he beat every British competitor in his first year.</p><p></p><p>Since that time he has moved on to the World Cup and is beating all but one British competitor, without any funding, without a coach, by doing it through hard graft. The uk association spends £4M pounds a year and has a support team of about 27 people. NZ has zero funding and one guy who organises the logistics of entering the competition, registration, etc.</p><p></p><p>This is not an isolated story - we hear time and again how elitist sport in the UK is and how it's more about the school or club you went to as it is about talent.</p><p></p><p>Nothing will change unless attitudes change.</p><p></p><p>On a related note, he is also a talented cyclist and before he joined the RAF he seriously considered track cycling. The organisations in Cardiff and Edinburgh were delighted and made it really easy for him to try out, with loaned equipment, a bit of coaching, etc. The difference in attitude by the mostly Celtic-run cycling associations and uk athletics is marked.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: silver"><span style="font-size: 9px">- - - Updated - - -</span></span></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I think I didn't put it clearly enough. Youth grade coaches in NZ are mostly pulled from dads and teachers, the difference being that there is a huge organisation behind ensuring they are all on the same page with skills, methods, etc. The NZRFU really work to ensure every coach gets the tools they need to do their job.</p><p></p><p>Now we are seeing 'professionals' getting into the sport as a coach or referee right at the start. My young nephew was in the NZ schoolboys winning team this year, but his twin brother is starting out in coaching school. He's sixteen going on seventeen and is gettting the same level and intensity of training as his brother is, but as a coach/referee, rather than as a player. You will often see a young feller in the box at Div.1 and SR games, he's an intern, where he will be learning about timekeeping, injury management, video management, logistics, kit, strategy, communication, etc. Development, just like player development.</p><p></p><p>And it's not only in NZ, the NZRFU pretty much run the coach and referee training programs for the island unions - Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and the Cook Islands. There's a constant flow of coaches and referees from the islands coming to nz or training, symposiums, and vice versa, kiwis going to the islands in their holidays to give a hand with those home unions. Unsung and overlooked, except by those in the know. The ties that bind the Pacific nations with NZ are very strong - osmosis and synergistic, rather than co-opting or parasitic.</p><p></p><p>Its not a coincidence there are so many kiwi coaches all over the world. It's a sporting position, just like playing on the field itself.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Zootalaws, post: 828218, member: 61187"] I agree. Not to harp on about it, but my son, from an early age, was fixated on a particular sport he had seen as a kid on the olympics. He joined the RAF, in part, because they offered that sport. He trained and tried out and in his first year was second in the championship and won the inter-services ***le against the army, navy and marines (yes, I know they are navy, but they compete separately). In his second year he swept the board, including inter-country forces competition. He was thrilled to bits to find out that there were to be trials for the uk team. He applied and didn't even get to go to the trials. He didn't come from a university athletics background and so wasn't considered as even a viable candidate. He approached the NZ association and they said he could have a go and afterwards, put him in the Europa cup competition, where he beat every British competitor in his first year. Since that time he has moved on to the World Cup and is beating all but one British competitor, without any funding, without a coach, by doing it through hard graft. The uk association spends £4M pounds a year and has a support team of about 27 people. NZ has zero funding and one guy who organises the logistics of entering the competition, registration, etc. This is not an isolated story - we hear time and again how elitist sport in the UK is and how it's more about the school or club you went to as it is about talent. Nothing will change unless attitudes change. On a related note, he is also a talented cyclist and before he joined the RAF he seriously considered track cycling. The organisations in Cardiff and Edinburgh were delighted and made it really easy for him to try out, with loaned equipment, a bit of coaching, etc. The difference in attitude by the mostly Celtic-run cycling associations and uk athletics is marked. [COLOR=silver][SIZE=1]- - - Updated - - -[/SIZE][/COLOR] I think I didn't put it clearly enough. Youth grade coaches in NZ are mostly pulled from dads and teachers, the difference being that there is a huge organisation behind ensuring they are all on the same page with skills, methods, etc. The NZRFU really work to ensure every coach gets the tools they need to do their job. Now we are seeing 'professionals' getting into the sport as a coach or referee right at the start. My young nephew was in the NZ schoolboys winning team this year, but his twin brother is starting out in coaching school. He's sixteen going on seventeen and is gettting the same level and intensity of training as his brother is, but as a coach/referee, rather than as a player. You will often see a young feller in the box at Div.1 and SR games, he's an intern, where he will be learning about timekeeping, injury management, video management, logistics, kit, strategy, communication, etc. Development, just like player development. And it's not only in NZ, the NZRFU pretty much run the coach and referee training programs for the island unions - Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and the Cook Islands. There's a constant flow of coaches and referees from the islands coming to nz or training, symposiums, and vice versa, kiwis going to the islands in their holidays to give a hand with those home unions. Unsung and overlooked, except by those in the know. The ties that bind the Pacific nations with NZ are very strong - osmosis and synergistic, rather than co-opting or parasitic. Its not a coincidence there are so many kiwi coaches all over the world. It's a sporting position, just like playing on the field itself. [/QUOTE]
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