What $1,500 of Rugby Coach Education Bought Me

Nearly 20 years ago, I attended the Australian Rugby Union Level 2 coaching course, the equivalent of the World Rugby Level 3 course.

For reasons I have never entirely understood, the Australian Sports Commission did things a little differently when naming its coaching qualifications.

As a Brisbane-based coach, the obvious option was to complete the course through the Queensland Rugby Union at Ballymore, about 20 minutes from my house.

But I knew the coach educators who worked there at the time. I had attended other courses they had delivered, and for various reasons, I did not particularly want to spend another four days with them.

So, I did something slightly unusual.

Rather than driving 20 minutes to Ballymore, I flew to Sydney and completed the course there.

The organisation I was coaching for at the time covered the course fee, just as it would have if I had attended in Brisbane. But it was not going to cover my flights, accommodation, food or any of the other costs that came with spending four days interstate.

I knew I was going to be significantly out of pocket.

The benefit was that I would be exposed to a completely different group of instructors and, just as importantly, a completely different group of coaches attending the course.

It was an eclectic and interesting group with a wide range of experience. That created plenty of lively debate, discussion and conversation throughout the four days.

But if I am being honest, as an ambitious young coach who was already investing heavily in independent education and coaching at a reasonable level, there was not a great deal that I took away from the course.

When all was said and done, I walked away with:

1. A brilliant coaching cue that I will remember until the day I die. I’ve never actually used it because it was very time-and-place specific to the instructor who shared it.
   
2. A quote attributed to former Wales head coach and then-Wallabies attack coach Scott Johnson: “Why would I want my attack to break down? I don’t want my car to break down, so why would I want my attack to?”
   
3. An anecdote about what Richie McCaw was doing differently at the breakdown compared with other players.
   
4. An entertaining argument between the instructors about which sideline suited which kicking foot.
   
5. A sense of dread for the future of Australian rugby, knowing that the former professional players attending the course were probably the least knowledgeable people in the room and would be fast-tracked into prime coaching roles. That proved prophetic.
   

I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, but as you can see, that wasn’t a huge amount of value to take away from four days and an investment of well over $1,500.

Especially for a young coach with only a few years under their belt.

But the experience made me realise that, among other things, most traditional forms of rugby coach education are broken.

They focus on a particular category of coaching: what I call custodial coaching.

And even when you do learn something of value, it isn’t always universal, enduring or timeless.

Laws change. The age groups you work with change. The level of your players changes. Everything changes.

This experience led me to establish two fundamental design principles for every Rugbyology educational opportunity.

Firstly, every Rugbyology offering must contain ideas or information that cannot readily be found elsewhere.

Secondly, every offering must be practical and immediately useful. Ideally, it should remain useful for the long haul.

For example, once you understand the RACS Framework or the Laws of Rugbyology, you begin to see these concepts at work in every minute of every session you coach.

No matter the level or age group, and no matter how much the game changes, these ideas remain present and valuable.

Compare that with traditional education focused on giving you a drill or tactic to copy, with no consideration of you or your team’s circumstances, and the difference is night and day.

Which brings me to two weekends ago, when I delivered the second round of a pilot course tentatively titled Rugbyology I: Design the Demand.

Built around the relationship between training, transfer and improvement, the course gives coaches better ways to understand what their sessions are actually developing.

As the feedback has come in, it has become clear that the content and course structure work, and that those two fundamental design principles have been met:

Practical rugby coaching education built around ideas you will not find anywhere else, and designed to remain useful long after the course ends.

For a long time, I have believed that rugby coaches deserve a different kind of education.

Education that does more than provide drills, tactics and second-hand stories from the professional game.

Education that gives coaches better ways to see, think and make decisions for themselves.

That is what Rugbyology I has been designed to do.

After two successful pilots, I am confident that the course is ready.

For now, Rugbyology I will be delivered exclusively in person.

The next step is to explore opportunities to deliver it to coaches, clubs and organisations around the world.

If this sounds like the kind of coach education you would value, please reach out via the contact page and tell me where you are based.

Whether you are interested in attending yourself, believe there would be interest from other coaches in your area, or think your club or organisation might be open to hosting a course, I would like to hear from you.

There is nothing to buy today, and no dates or locations are locked in. But if there is genuine interest in a particular location, especially if a suitable club or organisation is willing to host, we could move quickly.

Your replies will help determine where the first public edition of Rugbyology I is delivered.