The Journey of a Grassroots Rugby Coach (More Tracksuits less Business Suits)

Todays guest is Andy Yep

Andy grew up outside of Chicago playing multiple sports.

In 2005 he began playing rugby in high school at the age of 17.

When he moved up to the men's level, he began coaching high school rugby.

In 2015 Andy became a world level 1 rugby coach.

Andy has coached rugby in multiple states in the USA and at various age levels.

He currently coaches the University of Southern California Women's Rugby club and the Belmont Shore Women's Rugby club

As part of his development Andy took it upon himself to studying coaching and motor learning since then.  Which we discuss during the episode.

We also spoke about the use of constraints in small sided games for decision making.

This week’s guest is Steve HALSEY.

Steve is currently completely his Level 4 coaching accreditation

Steve transitioned into coaching after injury stopped him playing,

Steve went into age group rugby working in the Northampton Saints academy.

He became involved with the Women's game in 2010 coaching the England U20's at various points across the 10 years.

More recently Steve was involved with coaching Loughborough Lightning in the Allianz Premier 15's competition, just prior to recording this episode Steve has taken up a full-time role as forwards coach with Worcester Warriors in the Allianz Premier 15's competition.

During our chat we spoke about how to bridge the experience gaps in our players, keeping training enjoyable, giving feedback and watching other people coach as part of your coach education.

This week’s guest is Dan Cottrell.

Dan is the editor of Rugby Coach Weekly.

Dan is a practising RFU Level 3 coach and coach educator.

He coaches with the Bristol Bears DPP programme, is the assistant coach with University of Bristol Women's team and is a coach mentor for Broad Plain RFC mini and juniors section.

He was Head Coach of Swansea Schools U15 and has previously held coaching roles with the Young Ospreys Academy and as Assistant Coach with the Wales Women's Team for the 2010 World Cup.

He was director of rugby for Cranleigh School, Surrey. Previously he played rugby for Bath and Bristol.

During this chat we spoke about making sure us as coaches allow learning to happen during training sessions.

We chatted about making sure your persona you display matches the message you are portraying as well as Player Empowerment and being the best version of yourself

Dan can be contacted on the below website or via his socials

https://www.rugbycoachweekly.net/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-cottrell-9b699523/

https://twitter.com/RugbyCoachWeek

https://www.facebook.com/RugbyCoachWeekly/

This week episode is with Curtis Bradford

Curtis began playing as a child in Wales, He has since used Rugby as a passport to travel and to take his first steps into coaching.

While playing across Europe, Asia and in Australia, Curtis also worked in development officer roles with the Welsh Rugby Union, Kuala Lumpur Tigers and NSW Rugby.

In 2018, Curtis stopped playing due to a lengthy run of concussions.

At this point Curtis moved to Austria to begin working with the national teams in the developing rugby nation, as well as a director of rugby role at RC Graz, guiding them to their first ever national championship.

Since the interview Curtis has taken his next steps and moved to Italy to coach VII Torino.

During our chat we spoke about Managing teams and building connections with parents, partners.

We also discussed getting the balance right when you have new players and experienced players in the same environment and coaching and skill development in a non rugby country.

Curtis has seen many different scenarios across grass roots sport and even in performance roles. Since the interview Curtis has taken his next steps and moved to Italy to coach VII Torino.

Curtis’s Coaching experience.

Newcastle Emlyn Juniors (2013-2017)

Ceredigion county u15 and under 19 (2014-2017)

Friends of Rwandan Rugby (two tours 2015 & 2016)

Åland Stags Men’s team (2015)

WRU Development officer (2015-2017)

Newcastle Emlyn 2nd team (2015-2017)

Kuala Lumpur Tigers player/coach/development officer (2017)

Cobra Rugby club juniors (2017)

Byron Bay Rugby club player/coach and women’s coach (2018)

Rugby Austria 7s head coach (men and women) and Men’s XVs attack coach (2018-2022)

With a wide variety of experiences across nations but also levels,

This week’s guest is Mark Bernays

Mark has been coaching for about 16 years

He has coached both Junior and senior rugby at Oatley Rugby Club in Sydney NSW.

Mark is also the Director of Junior Rugby at Southern Districts Rugby Club.

During this chat we spoke about creating a team environment and getting to know your players.

We also discussed have enjoyment in training and treating everyone fairly but remembering that every player is different.

Mark spoke about how he likes to have a team of coaches and how he focusses on the outcome of the skill and not the process.

This week’s episode is with Alana Thomas.

Alana is the current Head Coach for the Melbourne Rebels Super W team.

Alana started playing rugby in 2001 in Orange after being invited by uni friends. She represented Central West Rugby from 2002-2010, NSW Country 2003-2010, Aus Wallaroos 2006-2010 Victorian State 7’s 2012-2014.

Alana retired from playing after a serious concussion which was one of 12, she suffered in her career, however this one had lingering side effects for months.

Wanting to stay involved and give back to Rugby coaching was a natural step. Helping out at her club was the start of her coaching journey which soon saw her work through her coaching accreditations and coach the Victorian State 7’s & XV’s team.

In 2017 she was awarded the Rugby Australia Community Coach of the Year and the following year she was appointed the Head Coach of the Melbourne Rebels Super W side.

She is passionate about Women’s Rugby and hopes to help players grow and remove barriers that she faced and provide opportunities for all players.

Coaching Experience

· 2015 Assistant Coach Victorian Women's State team

· 2015-17 Rugby Australia Women's Coach Development

· 2016-17 Head Coach Victorian Women State team

· 2016-2018 Melbourne Rebels Emerging Players Program (EPP) Coach

· 2017 Rugby Australia Community Coach of the Year

· 2016-17 Head Coach Melbourne Unicorns Rugby Club - Women

· 2018-19 Coach Development - Wallaroos

· 2019 Australia A Assistant Coach

· Current Head Coach Melbourne Rebels Super W

Alana’s day job is working with the Victorian Institute of Sport where she works with some of Australia’s best athletes, coaches and support staff.

In this episode we spoke about being able to grow from our losses

What is your why

Being authentic and having fun

You own your own development and back yourself and be creative.

If you want to reach out and connect with Alana you can connect via the following social media platforms:

LinkedIn: Alana Thomas

Instagram: @alanathomas7

Twitter: @alanathomas7