Over the weekend 6th, 7th and 8th August the IRFU Ulster Branch completed their final level one coaching course for this year; the course is aimed at coaches working with players at stage three of the IRFU long term player development pathway. The course was kindly hosted by the Royal School, Dungannon.
The course deals with the Principles of Play and developing them through the use of key factor analysis; applied to individual skills, mini-unit skills, unit and team skills.
At the end of the course the coach is expected to identify and rectify technical deficiencies together with the ability of planning, organising, managing, communicating and developing the skills of his/her players through the implementation of rugby specific and generic modules.
The course encourages the coach to challenge their players in the context of the game.
The course was delivered by IRFU Ulster Branch coach development staff along with staff from Ulster Rugby's high performance and academy departments.
Course Director Jamie Turkington would like to thank all guest tutors over the weekend who provided an experienced and detailed insight to different aspects of the game these included:
Chris Galway: Coach Development Manager, University of Ulster;
Keith Patton: Former Irish Schools Coach and Head of Rugby at R.S. Dungannon
Justin Fitzpatrick: Former Irish international and Director of Rugby at Dungannon RFC Derek Suffern: Head Coach Ballynahinch RFC and Director of Rugby at Wallace H. S.
Kieran Campbell: Former Irish international and current assistant coach at Dungannon RFC
Jamie went on to thank all coaches in attendance for making the course a success and ensuring the weekend ran smoothly. The level of knowledge exchange between coaches and tutors enhanced everyone's experience over the weekend.
Anyone interested in attending any of the Coach Education courses organised by IRFU Ulster Branch can find course details and how to apply on the "Development" page of the website.
