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Forum Guru
 
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Last Login: 10/06/2010 12:40:18
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| I am about to take up a head coach position with a Regional Under 18's ladies team. Having previously only coached Boys/men at various age groups I was wondering if anybody had any advise/views on what I can expect in terms of technical prowess and tactical awareness? Many thanks Jonesy
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Junior Member
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Last Login: 14/08/2010 20:21:43
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| Although never having coached a girls/womens team I have a 16 year old daughter who has been playing since she was an Under 10 at the club where I coach. Some of the players you will coach will be similar to my daughter and have a good grounding in the basic skills and an awareness of how the game is played. You will also get players relatively new to the game in comparision who, whilst they may be extremely good athletes with good hand-eye coordination, will be lacking in game awareness. In the sessions/games I have watched this has mainly manifested itself in the area of decision making. The mix of these players of differing standards in one group can be challenging for the coach - on the one hand he has to develop the 'older' players but also needs to concentrate on developing the awareness of those players who have less experience of playing rugby.
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Supreme Being
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Last Login: 29/01/2012 16:10:53
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I've coached girls and women for years and, first off, be prepared to have them actually listen to and execute what you say!!!
Not having the same degree of bulk and power that teens/men have, they're also more willing to move the ball about, but as mentioned above, you might find the need to address different levels of ability and awareness. I've found that it's a steep learning curve for them, though, given their will to listen and learn and, what seems to be natural for girls, a desire to 'fit in' to the group. (Regional should be better, given a competitive streak that comes with making the grade - most of my current women's team have played provincial or university in Canada and take time to work on their skills and fitness outside training, and as such are willing to work on stuff that you haven't time for in training.)
What I've found in my seven years, three countries working with women's rugby, however, is a general lack of initiative and/or will to take risks. Now I think most of this stems from years of not having had coaching which promoted it (or lack of inexperience) ... not with me, I must say, as I love seeing them have a go.
Beyond improving the skills and general awareness, I'd say keep reminding them of times when it's 'safe' to be risky and what sort of opportunities are likely to present themselves. This has been the theme for this season for us - away from planned moves, and more about scanning for and reacting to opportunities as they present themselves.
I'd say the next step is about consciously creating opportunities where they don't exist, but we're doing very well at spotting ops that most hadn't considered before which tend to be common at the women's club level (which, in this province, is probably not far off RFUW Prem).
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Forum Newbie
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Last Login: 14/07/2009 05:29:52
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| Jonesy Hey you will be surprised at the skill sets some of these girls will posess.You will have a few with good tactical nouse and some you will have to work on.Girls are different to coach than guys,firstly they listen !!! they pick things up very quickly their brains work differently to ours.They don`t respond to the old rant and rave either but prefer the gen Y type of praise.lastly you may have to instill some more aggression into some of your players but they will respond if you go about it the right way,best of luck for your campaign.
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Forum Member
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Last Login: 05/10/2011 16:42:01
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Hi I coach a division 1 ladies team and I have found that there are differences and similarities to the men’s game. Firstly, one of the things that annoy me the most is that the common thought is that girls are smaller/weaker than boys so girls’ rugby must be less physical than boys’ rugby. I have a few players that might argue that point. I have 2 six foot + players that love nothing more that trampling people, I have two girls under five foot that are 3rd dan kickboxers and can put the biggest tackles in a match and a five foot flanker that tells me her favourite sound is "clicking ribs". Don't make this mistake when coaching ladies rugby for the first time, as they'll let you know about it. Like any good coach you should coach the players you have and not the players you want. I must agree with the previous points about girls being more willing to listen. I believe that the fact that girls don't have a chance to play as much rugby as the boys in their teenage years makes them enjoy rugby a whole lot more (including the training). When men turn 19 and start playing senior rugby, they could have already played 300 games of rugby in their lives, be coached by 5/6 different coaches and might have done the same drills for 12 years. At that point, you can see why it's hard to listen! I also agree with a previous point about no backs moves. We still haven't implemented any set backs move and allow the girls to make their own decisions on the field. We coach the girls the basic skills- 2v1, 3v2, scissors, loops and miss passes, spatial awareness, running into spaces and most important, How and when to pass the ball. I've seen so many coaches giving their team hell when their moves are going wrong, but it's obvious to me that the players can't execute move when they can't pass correctly. The most important tip I can give you is to ensure that your team is integrated into your club and feel that they play for the club and it's badge and not just the ladies team. I've seen so many players not enjoy rugby because they feel they're fighting against the club/committee. I think people are fighting all over the world to give ladies rugby the respect it deserves and unless your club are on board, you'll have an up hill struggle. Enough form me, Slimadey
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Forum Guru
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Last Login: 10/06/2010 12:40:18
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| It been three months since I first posted this topic and this morning I took charge of my first session. The outcome was very suprising, basic handling skills were on par with some boys under 15's sides I have previously coached. Their attitude was first class, they were attentative and responsive. The area which I felt needed attention was the contact area, there was an inability to manage the contact area both on their feet and on the floor on their terms. This is an issue that I shall be addressing in the next few weeks. During a conditioned game the focus of attack tended to be lateral so there is a need to focus on attacking inside shoulder. So on reflection - very pleasing however plenty to work on.
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