Living up to their development plan, the Fiji Secondary Schools Rugby Association held a Level One and Level Two coaching course at John Wesley College yesterday.

A total of 28 teachers from schools as far as Levuka Public turned up for the coaching course which was facilitated by Fiji Rugby Union.

Association secretary Waisake Tuicakau said the purpose of the coaching course was to ensure that young rugby players were learning the right skills from professional coaches.

“Fiji Secondary Schools would like to up skill our coaches, from our AGM, we have adopted that coaches taking grades should be accredited,” Tuicakau said.

“Those who are coaching U14-15 should be currently level one coaches, those who are doing U15-16 should be doing their level two coaching course and those coaching U18-19 should be level two.

“This is to ensure that we coach the students properly because rugby in the end will benefit as we will be developing good rugby players for Fiji Rugby.

“We have conducted this workshop to all the zones, the Eastern, Southern and Western zones.

“The reason for this workshop today (yesterday) is for those who have missed out on the previous workshops.

“This is part of our development plan and it is safe too for coaches to be accredited and teaching the students the right set of skills rather than just teaching or coaching from experience.

“It avoids player injuries, now player welfare is important and being a qualified coach means they know how to take their students through the right trainings to avoid injuries in games.”

When it comes to rugby, female coaches are almost never heard of, however, Richmond Methodist High School PEMAC teacher, Luisa VotabuaWaqairatu was present at the coaching course and is encouraging females to break out of the mind-set that rugby is only for males.

“I have found this workshop very interesting because it is not only for coaches but also for those parents who are teachers and have kids who play rugby,” Waqairatu said.

“With my knowledge that I have gained here I am able to know what my child goes through when they play sport, it helps me guide my two kids on their path to rugby.

“Since we have the Fijiana team, there is a need for female coaches to come in and fill in the shoes of male coaches.

“I think the stereotype that rugby is a men’s game is old now, women are taking it a step further and playing the game so why not take it even further and start coaching.”