Coach licensing scheme

RFU to pilot new coach development and licensing scheme

The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is to trial a groundbreaking coach development programme linked to a registration and licensing scheme in three of its Constituent Bodies (CBs) this season.  The pilot project will be launched in the Midlands East region, in the Leicestershire, East Midlands and Notts, Lincs and Derbys (NLD) CBs and will run for 24 months from January 2009.

The scheme is designed to encourage existing qualified coaches to invest in their own development and enhance their personal effectiveness to benefit all those they coach. It will be supported by a range of Continuous Personal Development (CPD) events – two hour subject specific seminars delivered on a local basis and in response to identified needs.– the Level Two course – may not be relevant to them, particularly those coaching children.

CPD provides a mechanism for developing coaches between levels of qualification and enhancing coaching expertise. For example, the development of front row, kicking or attack coaches can be achieved by attending CPD courses, the range of which will grow to become a game-wide support system for the coaching public.

The Government’s UK Coaching Framework calls on each National Governing Body to “set out and implement the steps needed to establish coaching as a professionally regulated vocation, recognising volunteer and part-/full-time roles. As a first step, conduct a detailed feasibility study on the licensing and registration of coaches”.

Gary Henderson, the RFU’s Head of Coach Development, said: “We believe a licensing and registration scheme will allow us to serve the needs of our coaches much better in the future, which is why we’re trialling the scheme in the Midlands East region over the next two years.

“At the moment, around 7,000 coaches complete our Level One courses each year, but after that we may never come into contact with them again. The next step on our existing coaching ladder

“This new scheme will enable us to provide the courses they want, increase their enjoyment of the game, and the easy-to-use online registration through our RugbyFirst system means we can track their progress and meet their needs.”

A licence is granted automatically when a coach gains a qualification and the CPD programme will then help to support, engage and enthuse the 35,000 RFU qualified coaches at all levels of the game.

Licensees can become members of a new RFU Coaches Association whose benefits include a quarterly SportsCoachUK Coaching Edge magazine, discounts at the Rugby Store, discounted corporate clothing, exclusive DVDs, a regular newsletter update and password controlled access to current coaching articles and videos.

The pilot will be managed by Coaching Development Manager Des Diamond and overseen locally by Nick Scott, the Coaching Development Officer for the Midlands East region.

“We’re splitting the clubs in the three constituent bodies into 25 clusters to make sure the delivery of the courses is at a local level that’s accessible to everyone and to assist us in our aim of meeting local needs,” said Scott.

“Thanks to the cooperation and expertise of the three Constituent Bodies, our coach developers and especially the Club Coaching Coordinators, we should hit the ground running in January and be able to offer new CPD courses and make the licensing process easy to implement.”

A new tier of Coach Developers is being trained to deliver the CPD events in the three CBs where the scheme is trialled before its evaluation.

RFU Coach Development

The RFU is committed to ensuring every rugby team has access to high-quality coaching supported by the best coach development system. The RFU works directly with 17,500 coaches and school teachers at award courses, coaching clinics and conferences each year. Around 6,200 qualify for RFU coaching awards each year at Level One (5,000), Level Two (1,200), Level Three (130) and Level Four (15). That pathway is supported by entry level Tag Rugby, Rugby Ready and Community Sports Leaders Awards, and a range of new coach development courses. The system is supported by a network of more than 500 coach trainers and educators.

Further information on the scheme can be found here: www.rfu.com/coach