Fiji Rugby Union held a Level 2 Rugby Sevens coaching refresher course in Suva this week. The objective was to formally accredit local coaches who have completed their Level 2 coaching training.

Fiji Rugby Union’s National Development Manager  Kolinio Sewabu explained that as part of the coaches’ accreditation they have to compile their diary for three tournaments, including a coaching workbook which needs to be completed as well.

“For the past two months there have been minimal follow-ups since these coaches did their formal training, so the idea of bringing them in was to freshen up some guidelines and timeframe and what we will do in order to assist them from development perspective,” Sewabu said.

“Following the development process, at the end of three sevens tournament these coaches take part in, they will be accredited as Level 2 sevens coach from World Rugby accreditation process.

“The World Rugby accreditation system is a global system and a Level 2 coach in Fiji is no different from a Level 2 coach in South Africa or New Zealand, the only difference is the level of competition they’re playing in. From a sevens perspective we know that we are one of the top 7s team in the world and we also have a lot of top 7s clubs that can compete at global level,” he said.

“The main idea is to keep the coaches upskilled with all modern requirements.”

Sewabu also explained that the course also introduced coaches to the video analysis side of things which was something that was still new in local coaching.

“We’re trying to assist the coaches; they should take videos of their games and include these as part of the accreditation. When they do analysis it not only helps their team but also helps the coach in terms of building their individual skills for the respective team that they’re coaching,” he said.

With many different competitions in the country and abroad that various local teams take part in, Fiji will require more qualified coaches to be able to assist their teams in the development of the game.

“This programme organised by FRU will have an impact on our local coaching system which will help a lot in the molding of our local players by coaches. It will also lift the competition level locally.”