New Coaching Approach To Benefit Kids

Girl and boy rugby players aged 10 to14 years in the Western and Central divi­sions, will benefit from new coach­ing approaches as a result of ongo­ing Get Into Rugby PLUS training that includes both rugby skills and life skills to deal with every­day life.

“It’s an honour and a privilege to be a Get into Rugby PLUS coach,” said Kitiana Kaitu, a teacher at St Joseph the Worker Primary School and Get into Rugby PLUS coach.

“I’m not just a rugby coach but also an advocate for those who can­not voice their opinion. I love that I’m working together with others for the future of the nation.”

Get Into Rugby PLUS is co-funded by Oceania Rugby, through Rugby Australia and the Australian Gov­ernment’s Pacific Sports Partner­ship (PSP), and also by UN Women Fiji MCO, through the EUR19.5m regional Pacific Partnership to End Violence Against Women and Girls (Pacific Partnership) funded by the European Union and Aus­tralian Government with support from UN Women.

The curriculum component of GIR PLUS is adapted to the Pacific from the ChildFund Pass It Back sport for development programme and is being implemented with support from the Fiji Rugby Union (FRU).

Through the new Get Into Rugby PLUS initiative, highly skilled coaches are learning new ways to support equal and safe rugby par­ticipation for girls and boys, whilst building their skills needed to ef­fectively deal with the challenges of life such as peer pressure, re­solving conflict, relationships and where to get support.

The most recent training was held early April to upskill coaches in strengthening, conditioning and safeguarding. Safeguarding is a commitment to guaranteeing the safety and wellbeing of all young people and vulnerable persons within an organisation.

In rugby this means coaches take action to ensure all young people are safe from harm when involved in rugby clubs, programmes and activities. Integrating safeguard­ing principles into training and coaching practices helps to ensure all young people participating in sport have a positive experience.

“I’d done some Get into Rugby PLUS training before, but the strength and conditioning train­ing really enlightened me to why we do the things we do in a train­ing session. The Safeguarding re­inforced the importance on focus­ing on child welfare – physical and emotional, when we coach,” Kaitu said.

The Get Into Rugby PLUS pro­gramme includes male and female coaches who embed life skill ses­sions into rugby practice for boys and girls who are encouraged to uphold the values of as players on the field and in their personal life, as part of a long-term approach to shifting attitudes and beliefs around gender, power, violence and respectful relationships.

Feedback: leonec@fijisun.com.fj