Nigel Melville Direct

As I am sure you are aware, there is no substitution for playing, but most of us eventually find the next best thing such as refereeing, coaching, administration, etc.

For me the next best thing, the nearest I could get to actually playing the game was coaching. At first it was because I could be on the field, play touch with the players and still be better than them at most things! Unfortunately, the day came when I saw the same gap I had been seeing for the last 30 years and I couldn’t get through it. I held a contact shield and saw stars on contact, my days as a player/coach were over!

So, I decided to take my coaching awards, get myself certified and become a full-fledged coach. I started at the bottom with my ‘Start Rugby’ qualification, followed by my Preliminary Award, Intermediate and eventually the Full Coaching badge.

The process of becoming a coach was in many ways enlightening and at times downright frustrating. The problem was that attending courses cost me time and money, neither were in abundance with young kids at home, but I made it work. There were times when I thought I was wasting my time and at other times when I would come away inspired with some new information that I could implement immediately. The problem was I could never second guess where the inspirational bits would come from, so I had to make sure that I opened up as many opportunities as I could.

On reflection, it all came down to the "how" and the "what." There were courses that taught me how to coach, where to stand, what to say and how to plan, This was the process of coaching, the parts that the teachers attending the course felt were beneath them, whilst I struggled to put my cones out in the right order or say the right things at the right time.

On other occasions I attended courses that demonstrated what to coach. The scrum, contact, passing, defence, line-outs and kicking. As a former international player, like the teachers with the cones, I learned little.

My point is that as coaches we have to know both the "what" and the "how." It’s a challenge that we all face - all coaches are unique, none are perfect, all continue to learn. Throught it all, however, I strongly believe that coaches have to develop at a faster rate than their players - a challenge in the professional era.

Having reviewed the USA Rugby coaching awards this week, it is my belief that we are too focused on the "how" and need to increase the opportunities for learning the "what."

This has to be a focus for 2009 - creating more opportunities for coaches to attend "what" sessions, listen to specialists in key areas of the game such as handling, kicking, contact, scrums, line-outs and defense. Developing coaches who have both the "how" and the "what" will develop better players who will produce better teams and ultimately raise standards.

I will create a schedule of opportunities, post them here, send them to all our registered coaches and provide them with increased opportunities. I also want to raise the standard of our coaching conference this summer with an increased number of opportunities. Kevin Bowring, Head of Elite Coaching at the RFU has already agreed to attend.

Why not send me a few ideas for guest coaches, I will get the rolodex out!

Now let me have a look at refereeing!