Queensland Rugby Union Advanced Coaching Course at Georgia Tech 16 – 17 Jan 2010

After two hugely successful Coach Education Tours of the US in 2009, where over 200 coaches, including High School, Club, Collegiate, Super League, USA Age Grade, Collegiate All Star, and Women’s National Team, and Men’s National ‘B’ Team Coaching Staff attended 5 courses from Vermont to Georgia to California, Coach Education Staff at the Queensland Rugby Union (QRU) will be conducting  a NEW and updated 2-Day Advanced Coaching Course at Georgia Tech University, Mid-Town Atlanta GA on the 16^th and 17^th of January, 2010.

By way of introduction, the QRU is the largest Sub Union in the Southern Hemisphere, servicing an area of 1.1 million square miles (4x the size of Texas), comprising an even ratio (1:1) of population distribution between regional and metro areas (population 3.6 million).  Comparatively, NSW has a population of 7 million 75% of which is spread over 9000 sq miles.  Despite the tyranny of distance, over the past 6 years, the QRU High Performance and Coaching and Development Departments, utilizing an even mix of players and coaches from regional and metro areas, have consistently produced the most successful elite player and coach development programs in Australia.  Specifically, the QRU Elite pathway has achieved the following:

· Won 5 of the last 6 Australian Schools (Year 17 & 18) Championships including the last 4 (2006 – 2009)

· Won the 2008 Australian Year 16’s Championship with both Queensland (Qld) teams (1 & 2) contesting the final

· Won 3 Trans Tasman Championships (Qld, ACT, NSW (Aust), Canterbury, Wellington & Otago (NZ))

· 12 of the 26 players selected in the 2009 Australian U20 Squad, just under half of the current Wallaby squad (14 of 32 players), and just on a third of Australia’s professional player pool (45 of 132 players – 4x Provincial Squads of 33), were developed through the QRU Elite Player Development Pathway.

The QRU’s flagship – “the Qld Reds”, competes internationally in the Super 14, and currently consists the youngest and least experience in the Super Rugby Competition, averaging across the squad less than 20 games of Super Rugby experience.  Comparatively, the 2009 Super Rugby Champions – the Northern Bulls averaged 35 games).  With the new appointment of one of the World’s best coaches and ‘Ruggamatrix’ favourite – Ewen McKenzie, all pundits, including Wallaby Coach Robbie Deans are predicting that the Qld Reds will be the biggest improvers in Super Rugby over the next 5 years.

The new and updated 2-Day Advanced Coaching Course has been designed utilizing over five years of experience conducting player and coach development in the United States, the experience and expertise that has significantly contributed to the above-mentioned triumphs, and will present evidence based coaching techniques used successfully and effectively at Super Rugby, Super 14 Academy, International Seven’s, Regional Academy, Australian Rugby Championship, Age Grade National Championships and Premier Rugby levels.  Different from the first course, the new course is workshop and case study based, looking at giving coaches an opportunity to experience and develop high level player and team profiling skills, which will allow them to develop effective playing an strategy which are culturally specific and relevant to the group they are coaching.  Further to this coaches will be given opportunity to further develop their technical recognition and programming skills as well as session execution, with feedback from the course facilitators and participants.  Finally participants will be taken through a process that will allow them to analyze their strengths and weaknesses as a coach and develop an individual personal development plan moving forward.  Essentially this course is a MUST for any coach at any level, that desires to further develop their craft, and provide a program and framework that is specific to the group that they are coaching.

Further the QRU also produce a variety of coaching resources/ aids. These cover many game facets and are some of the highest quality coaching resources available in World Rugby. By attending a Qld Rugby Coach Education Camp you will have access to and receive a selection of these.  A comprehensive list can be found by clicking on the following link:  Resources.

A draft program which includes hyperlinked session outlines and summaries, including biographies of the two presenting instructors can be found at the following link – 2-Day Coach Ed Program.

Registration for the program is 100% secure and entirely online and can be found at http://www.qru.com.au/rugby_education/coaching/usa_rugby_courses,67050.html.  Essentially just click on the link and follow the instructions all the way through to payment.

As a bonus – the Georgia Rugby Union is offering a $100 refund of the cost of the course, which is currently set at USD200 per participant.

Any questions, please don’t hesitate to email myself, otherwise we look forward to seeing you on the 16^th & 17^th of January, 2010.

Regards

David Hanham