Nigel Melville Direct

Better coaches – Better Players – Better team...an old mantra of mine, but worth remembering as we grow the game in America.

Today I have been working with the Advanced Coaching Course delegates in Atlanta, an opportunity to dig deeper into each coach's philosophy and practice. The Advanced Coaching Course is our most senior coach education course, developed with the support of the Rugby Football Union and delivered by RFU Coach Educators. We currently have 18 coaches enrolled in the course. Each coach attends three modules and they are supported by five mentors, continually assessed by three IRB Coach Trainers, and really tested.

Last night, Module 2 opened with individual player profiling. Each coach profiled one of their players and presented to the group. The coaches are assessed on content and presentation skills then questioned by their peers. Today the group started the day with building a team, exploring team values and then the practical preparation work began – today’s topic being the line-out.

During the next two days the pace will continue to be raised throughout practical sessions, demonstrations, classroom sessions and more.

This course is designed to challenge our coaches. It's not for the fainthearted, and will help produce a group of coaches who are aligned with level 3 coaches across the globe, confident that their current coaching practice is aligned with the rest of the rugby world and that they are doing the right things!

As a result, these coaches will help to develop a growing number of quality players and increasingly competitive teams and, as coaches, continue to develop and become the best they can be. Not everyone will make the finish line in July, but we will be setting a standard for our elite coaches to help us improve the game at all levels.

I have great respect for everyone taking part. The group has been joined by a few old faces from USA Rugby’s past, including Ed Burlingham and George Betzler, who have been trained in their new roles as Coach Mentors by the IRB North America training officer, Mike Luke.

Well done all, a vibrant group and a shame I couldn't stay longer…