Dragons stars were today going back to the classroom as they work towards their UK CC level 2 coaching qualification.
The players were helped today by children from St Joseph’s School, Newport who acted as volunteers for a practical session of the course at Rodney Parade. The Dragons were thrown in at the deep end, running scrummaging sessions with groups of 15 year 8 pupils.
PE Teacher John Welsh said “The children really enjoyed the experience of being coached by their Dragons heroes. Hopefully, the experience our pupils have gained from these sessions will help them in their inter-school matches later in the season.”
Wayne Evans, Colin Charvis, Adam Black, Jamie Ringer, Gareth Wyatt, Kevin Morgan, Adam Jones, James Arlidge, Steve Jones, Tal Selley, Richard Parkes, Andrew Hall and Shaun Connors are working towards their qualification.
John Schropfer, National Coach Development Manager for the WRU said “One of the key initiatives for the WRU Coach Development Department has been the introduction of the professional players coaching courses. These courses have been set up to fit around the often demanding training schedules of today’s professional players.
“In the future, it’s envisaged that a large number of professional coaches will come from the present professional players. These players already have an abundance of experience of technical and tactical knowledge. The main focus on these level 2 coaching courses are the “how to coach” skills as these players already have a strong understanding of what to coach. The players from both the Scarlets and the Dragons have been totally committed and seem to be enjoying the experience.
"A number of these players already help out in local schools and clubs within their region, and they have proved extremely receptive and a pleasure to work with.
“When these players come to the end of their playing careers, they will already have had considerable experience of coaching before looking for a post as a semi-professional or professional coach.
This is ideal for the Welsh Rugby Union as it will keep all of this knowledge and experience within rugby in Wales.”
The players were helped today by children from St Joseph’s School, Newport who acted as volunteers for a practical session of the course at Rodney Parade. The Dragons were thrown in at the deep end, running scrummaging sessions with groups of 15 year 8 pupils.
PE Teacher John Welsh said “The children really enjoyed the experience of being coached by their Dragons heroes. Hopefully, the experience our pupils have gained from these sessions will help them in their inter-school matches later in the season.”
Wayne Evans, Colin Charvis, Adam Black, Jamie Ringer, Gareth Wyatt, Kevin Morgan, Adam Jones, James Arlidge, Steve Jones, Tal Selley, Richard Parkes, Andrew Hall and Shaun Connors are working towards their qualification.
John Schropfer, National Coach Development Manager for the WRU said “One of the key initiatives for the WRU Coach Development Department has been the introduction of the professional players coaching courses. These courses have been set up to fit around the often demanding training schedules of today’s professional players.
“In the future, it’s envisaged that a large number of professional coaches will come from the present professional players. These players already have an abundance of experience of technical and tactical knowledge. The main focus on these level 2 coaching courses are the “how to coach” skills as these players already have a strong understanding of what to coach. The players from both the Scarlets and the Dragons have been totally committed and seem to be enjoying the experience.
"A number of these players already help out in local schools and clubs within their region, and they have proved extremely receptive and a pleasure to work with.
“When these players come to the end of their playing careers, they will already have had considerable experience of coaching before looking for a post as a semi-professional or professional coach.
This is ideal for the Welsh Rugby Union as it will keep all of this knowledge and experience within rugby in Wales.”
