aspire2

Rugby Skills Clinic

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About aspire2

ABOUT aspire2

aspire2 is a bespoke rugby skills clinic run by Mike and Sue Marchant. It is based at Winchester RFC.

The skills clinic is targeted at girls and boys in school years 6-11 and we hope that if your child does decide to participate that they will grow in their knowledge and understanding of rugby.

We recognise that young people will often go through phases and that some will, therefore, drift in and may drift out of rugby.

We hope that for whatever motivation they join or leave, their time within the skills clinic will be both enjoyable and beneficial.

THE START

The clinic was first started when they recognised that their son Joe would benefit from what Mike refers to as the scales and arpeggios of rugby, the basic physical skills, and the basics of effective decision-making.

Although only 6, having watched the 2003 Rugby World Cup Final together, Joe’s motivation to develop his rugby was clear.

Mike who was already a level three coach and coaching with Hampshire representative sides committed to doing what he could to increase Joe’s chances of living his dream, that being to become a professional rugby player and so the Skills Clinic was established.

EXPECTATIONS

There are, broadly speaking, 800,000 18year olds on any given day in England.

If each Premiership Club Team and each Tyrrells Premiership Club Team contracted 4 18-year-old players in a given year (and that’s fairly generous), it makes that contracted player 1 in 12,500.

There are no givens and in so many instances making it to the top requires three crucial ingredients, luck, opportunity, and readiness.

Readiness is the one that all players can enhance, and that is what the skills clinic is about.

Opportunities are the moments to demonstrate/show off your readiness to selectors, assessors and decision-makers.

Luck can often be the circumstances that provide you with opportunity.

ELEMENTS

Acknowledgement that improvement will always be possible and of course the hunger or determination to realise one's own potential.

The maturity of mind to manage the peaks and troughs/highs and lows of the journey.

These key elements are underpinned by hard work, a healthy lifestyle, rest and recuperation, sustained commitment, time management and the ability to recognise and observe positive support and guidance.

OBSERVATIONS

Mike’s observations are underpinned, as a coach his own journey and learning have been enriched through many hours of observing established and successful coaches.

Those coaching sessions have spanned all levels of the game from the early days of a child's development to their emerging phase of club, country and beyond, through to elite and world-class players.

Mike's conclusion is that perhaps the hardest skill to develop is decision making, it requires both game understanding and a toolbox of physical skills that can be deployed to provide the best chance of achieving the chosen outcome.

For example: teaching the tackle. The skills clinic will explore a range of safe tackle techniques so that:

  • youngsters develop the skills and confidence to make safer tackles
  • learn to appreciate which type of tackle to make in order to give their team the best chance of gaining possession of the ball

THE JOURNEY

The journey of a player from grassroots to the elite environment (Premiership / Tyrrells Premiership) is challenging on and off the field of play and is far more complex than simply being a good player.

It requires awareness of the self (is the required activity within my capacity to deliver?) and an understanding of everything that is going on around them, additionally the ability to make judgments in a fraction of a second.

For example and relating to a tackle in a given circumstance:

  • which tackle to apply
  • at which moment to apply it and why
  • the support players for the ball carrier and my own support players, who are they and where are they coming from
  • the stage of the game
  • where on the field of play the tackle is to take place
  • the interpretation that I have observed of those officiating
  • the knowledge of the ball-carrying player's own history of play and any patterns of behaviour
  • consideration of my own physicality and the physical presence of the player I want to tackle
  • the ability to apply science to compensate for a physical miss match


The list goes on....

The skills clinic played only a small part in Joe’s journey, but it was a crucial part in developing a foundation of skills knowledge, acquisition and application, in conjunction with at a very basic level rationalised decision-making.

THE AIM

We aim to give some insight into how young players can identify and develop skills and support themselves in realising their potential.

We understand that to compete is to take part, to win is to triumph, but to give everything is to realise your true potential and in doing so the player achieves all that is possible.

We recognise that the value for most youngsters will be that the programme helps them to build confidence, enjoy a physical challenge, enjoy healthy exercise and make lasting friendships.

From school years 6 – 11 is an ideal time to develop a foundation of motor skills for rugby. It's also a great time to promote the benefits of teamwork to youngsters, which is something that will also equip them for life.

Most importantly we hope that those who sign up enjoy the process and make rugby memories at whatever level they play the game.

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