Being energised and purposeful

Welcome in 2025 with the best version of an energised and purposeful approach. Here’s how I’m going to do this.

First, some context. I’m currently halfway through my season, although three of the four groups I work with have finished their regular 15-a-side fixtures. In essence, I won’t be preparing for a 15-a-side fixture for quite a few months.

One group will be continuing their development pathway, with a couple of trial games coming up.

Two of the groups will be entering sevens competitions, so I will be creating and coaching programmes which will be challenged by various time constraints. More on that later this month.

Reflecting on the last few months, there are two ways in which I will keep my coaching energised and purposeful.

It will remain energised because I’ve seen the impact of building strong connections with the players.

With some players, it is easy and a complete pleasure to work with them. With others, frankly, it has been a battle.

At one point, I felt I had lost one boy completely and was questioning my approach.

In the last few weeks of the season, though, he showed a different side to himself. When he spoke, he was modelling the behaviours we had strived so hard to instil.

It is worth sticking to your guns on standards. I wavered a couple of times, and missed some crucial moments to use better language or notice. But I used the strength of the coaching group to lean on and come out better.

The purposeful bit is easy. A strong plan has made an enormous difference. It has some flex, but it has meant we’ve not rushed ahead.

The next four months will have detailed plans to make sure we keep the momentum going, don’t lose sight of the core principles, and have everyone have a chance to grow as a player.