Twenty coaches from Swindon to Swansea, gathered at The Lextan Gnoll in Neath on Saturday for a first ever free open day of coaching taken by Clive Griffiths.
Our experienced Director of Performance, who is also currently the head coach of Wales Students, was delighted on how the day went.
He was assisted by coach and referee Rob Apsee, who also gave tips on refereeing junior games, as all of the attendees came from the community clubs in South Wales.
“Saturday went really well,” Griffiths said. “We had 20 coaches attending, which was very good for a bank holiday weekend and more than I have sometimes in a course in the North England.
“We had coaches there who were taking charge of players from U8s up to 16s and seniors. We concentrated on attack in the morning and defence in the afternoon, so it was quite a condensed day and the feedback was good.
“It was the first one of its kind, it was a nice little feather in the cap for Wales Rugby League.
“I enjoyed all of the day because it was great to be involved with like-minded people, who wanted to learn. It was very rewarding.
“Rob Apsee did some refereeing talks, as the junior coaches will also be refereeing and he went through all the necessary requirements.
“It was a good weekend all round for me on my visit to South Wales. We had a clubs meeting on the Friday, this course on the Saturday and then Wales Students training on Sunday, so I was involved with three different areas of rugby league in Wales last weekend, great to see it all developing nicely.”
One of the attendees, Carla Humphries, coach at West Wales Jets U10s said: “I attended to develop my coaching skills. It’s unbelievable how much of a change it is from rugby union to rugby league and it was a great opportunity to take, and it was free.
“I learned attacking, defencing, the rules of like rugby league compared to the rugby union, passing drills and things to basically do with the kids during training sessions.”
Dan Evans, a coach at Aberavon Fighting Irish senior men, said: “My background is rugby union, so it’s a case of being able to develop the game in Wales and see a better presence in the south.
“I took a lot on, some hard lessons learned. Fitness was definitely one of them, so it’s a case of taking what Clive taught us and just developing those foundations.”
Lewis Jackson, who coaches Swindon St George, whose U14s and U16s sides are playing in the Welsh set-up, said: “I got a lot out of the day. I can now go back and improve how we train and how I can improve my coaching of rugby.
“When there are more courses in the future, I would certainly recommend this to another coaching colleague. They will find it’s very beneficial and it can improve anybody’s coaching style no matter how many years of experience you’ve got.”
