MONDAY
Not the most interesting of starts I’m afraid, office day! After a busy end to last week I’m having a catch up on all those little jobs that seem to stack up on you.
I have responded to some club requests for funding advice, coaching courses, Service Area trial information (more about that later), clubmark support and much more! That’s a snapshot of my role as Service Area Coordinator, mainly focusing around club support and given that amateur clubs are the backbone of our sport, it’s a very fulfilling job to do.
Onto the evening and the LRCA (Leeds Rugby Coaches Association) has organised a coaching master class, delivered by none other than 1st team head coach Brian McDermott. Originally scheduled for Kirkstall we had to move it to Headingley to a bigger room as demand was that high! It was a great night and 62 amateur coaches from Leeds attended which was a fantastic number and great reward for Sam Horner (one of our elder members of staff) who set up and launched the LRCA last year.
TUESDAY
An early start this morning but not a very enjoyable one. I had to go to the hospital for a follow up appointment after a knee operation I had in December, the news wasn’t great as the doctor told me if I was a washing machine I would be traded in for scrap metal! Back to Kirkstall and after a quick hour on the computer the community team dashed up to Headingley for our staff photos, along with the 1st team squad. Back to Kirkstall for the afternoon where I spent my time finalising the delivery plan for our touch rugby projects within Leeds this year. I then had a meeting with Kevin and Diane from Rodley Rockets in the evening to revalidate their clubmark accreditation and discuss the future plans of the club, the amateur scene in Leeds is looking very promising!
WEDNESDAY
A Leeds Rugby foundation staff meeting to start the day up at Headingley. It’s great to get everyone in the room together once a month to see how we are all progressing with our work. We were also treated to a workshop from one of our trustees, Bob Bowman (Police officer). It was really interesting and certainly opened all our eyes to how important the work we do with Young children and adults can be. The only downside was a lack of biscuits but Sam quickly put in a complaint and I’m sure it will be sorted for next time. I spent the afternoon compiling the nominations for the Service Area. This programme brings together the best players at under 13/14 in Leeds for an 8 week performance programme. I’ve had over 90 nominations at each age so it should be an interesting trial day as the squads need to be cut in half!
THURSDAY
I had a meeting in the morning with Andy Wilson over at the John Charles Centre for sport in Hunslet. Andy is the rugby league development officer for the council. We meet regularly to get an update on the work in the city and how our programmes can work alongside each other. There was plenty to talk about and we’re already beginning to plan for the World cup in 2013, it should be a great summer for Rugby League in Leeds! Back to Kirkstall for a quick couple of hours on the computer before heading up to Milford to meet Charlie Bray and revalidate their clubmark file. Charlie also heads up the Yorkshire Juniors and knows as much as anybody about amateur Rugby League, so it’s very useful to pick his brains about the plans and thoughts I have on how to develop Rugby League in the city.
FRIDAY
The joys of the M62 awaited this morning as I had to make my way to Normanton. I had to have a catch up with Chris Spurr of the RFL about the Service Area performance programme. I got an update on what needs to be involved, how many sessions, coaching plans etc. It’s a really important programme as these kids could all be potential Rhinos, so how we engage with them now can have a massive bearing on their development and their future….no pressure there then! I also had a good chat with Craig Robinson who does the same job as me, but covering Wakefield. It helps to see how other areas are working and share some good practice (pinch ideas!).
Although it’s the end of the working week I can’t put my feet up just yet as I’m tutoring a Level 1 coaching course tomorrow. I enjoy tutoring on the courses (even though they are always weekends) as it’s great to have a chat with new and developing coaches and hopefully have a positive bearing on their coaching style. The course won’t finish until around 5:30pm, and it will definitely be time to go home and put my feet up. I’ve seen enough computer screens for this week so this is the end of my blog,
Over and out!