Rugby's the answer... Whats the question???

Magic Academy Coach Development Session at Henley RFC – 26thSept 2018

Rugby is a magical game. 

Nowhere is this magic more important than at the community level and in age-grade rugby, where some of the greatest challenges are faced. 
It is all too easy to get caught up in the complexities of administrating and coaching multiple teams at multiple age levels, both in clubs and schools, but in dealing with these important elements we can overlook simple, crucial factors. 

The key is to step back and constantly ensure the most important overarching elements are being delivered as brilliantly as possible.

To me, one of the most important threads in all of the coaching that we do is that our players, our kids, should be able to expect as consistent an experience as possible each week as they move back and forth between school and club rugby

With that overarching goal in mind we were really excited and grateful that Rusty was able to come along to Henley Hawks on a bright September evening to deliver truly insightful and inspiring Magic Academy sessions, both on the pitch and also in a round-table chat in the clubhouse.

Our aim? ‘Protect the Environment’.

Creating the best possible conditions for players to learn and have fun while doing so. 

Sounds simple but sometimes the broader objectives are the harder ones to deliver. 

We used a bit of TV and confectionary nostalgia to encourage coaches to cast their minds back to school days. What was it like being a kid? What TV programmes were we desperate to chat about with our mates? What chocolate bars were we scraping pennies together to buy? What were our motivations? Who was the best coach we had as a kid and why? 

So many questions, and in Rusty’s demo session it quickly became clear that questions should be at the heart of every session we run.

Throughout over an hour’s worth of demo session with some of our U15 players, Rusty was continually asking questions of them, the coaches and even himself. 

How do you want to re-start? 

Would you like a replay of that move?

Who’s the other team’s best player? Why?

Are fist pumps good currency in Henley?

Questions were key.  They kept the players thinking and asking more and increasingly focussed questions of themselves. 
From a coach’s perspective it was a genuine eye-opener because, whether they admit it or not, many coaches often feel exposed, fraudulent or scrutinised when they are standing in the middle of a pitch. 

Why? Probably because many of us believe we have to run onto that pitch with all of the answers and hand them to our players on a plate.

As Rusty’s demo session reiterated, that isn’t how effective, long-term learning happens. 

Players need to make mistakes and develop their own strategies for problem-solving, with coaches asking short, focussed questions. 

Every coach is guilty at various stages of telling players what they are going to do in a session, why they will be doing it and what the end result should be. Often that is solely to clarify the session in the coach’s mind. 
The more effective ammunition in our arsenal is a series of clear, adaptable questions that prompt player development across the cards ideology C.A.R.D.S (Creativity. Awareness. Resilience. Decision Making. Self-organisation).

The really meaningful feedback from Rusty’s session came from the players. The Henley Hawks U15s summed it up perfectly. 
“It didn’t feel like we were being coached”.

As one coach commented, “It was all so seamless and easy”.

The Magic Academy boys are at the top off their game and would no-doubt expect themselves to deliver seemingly ‘easy’ and ‘seamless’ sessions but my single biggest takeout from the session was that if you move towards a more questioning style of coaching and give players choices and opportunities to be creative, and  in doing so frequently fail, then everyone’s sessions become more effective and enjoyable. 

Our aim was to protect the environment. The first step is to get the relevant people talking about what a great environment is and we have started that process. 

Keep it personal, for you and the players.

Continue to recycle and share ideas with other clubs and schools. 
Create brilliant new things from old materials. 

Have genuine empathy with your players. Remember what it’s like to be their age. 

Here’s a first step on the empathy road. 

Write down your favourite sweet, TV programme, chocolate bar, bike or game from when you were your players’ age. 
Now combine it with your name in any way you want.  

You now have your Magic Academy name.

Huge thanks to Rusty “Grifter’ Earnshaw for a superb session. 

If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire – The Magic Academy

Max ‘Texan’ Tilney