More than 110 coaches from Port Macquarie to Cobar and as far north as Bundaberg, came together in Lennox Head at the weekend for a coach education weekend, championed by the Far and Mid North Coast zones.
The Far North Coast zone provided coaches a great opportunity to learn from Wallabies Coaches Dave Rennie, Scott Wisemantel and Petrus du Plessis, as well as former Wallaby Berrick Barnes and former Waratahs coach Chris Hickey. Former Brumby Murray Harley was also lending his support. Local Representative players were on hand to be the coaches’ players for the day.
The coaches were united under a common catch cry of ‘how good is footy’ and the weekend was a true celebration of what rugby means to the Far North Coast community.
Local Far North Coast coach and current NSWRU Emerging Talent Coach Program participant Andrew Fraser said the premise of the weekend was to make the game stronger after a really good 2020 season.
“We were hoping to stimulate and excite local coaches, giving their 2021 season a turbo boost of information to help them get their clubs and players ready,” Fraser said.
“Through the use of social media and the classic bush telegraph, word spread quickly and we welcomed more than 150 players and coaches to Lennox for a weekend of coaching fun.”
“From local coaches, to as far as Cobar, to Shute Shield coaches from Sydney and a number of school teachers, it was rewarding to see such a large turnout, especially in seeing some coaches from the highly successful Len Diett Shield Schools 1st XV competition” he said.
“Rugby certainly was the winner - participants went home with new ideas and new contacts. It was a responding success and revealed a strong appetite for the game & people are keen to further their learning.”
“Given some of the feedback, we’re hoping to hold some more weekends like this again soon!” he said.
NSWRU Coach Education and Development Manager Owain Roberts said he was pleased to support the zone in getting this initiative off the ground.
“It’s great to see the North Coast committing to coach development, and the fantastic volunteers up there working hard to get this off the ground,” Roberts said.
“What was even more pleasing was to see the high number of coaches turn out, with over 100 coaches making the most of the opportunity to learn from some of the best coaches in our game.”
“Having Dave (Rennie), Wisey (Scott Wisemantel) and the other coaches involved too is just a testament to the amazing work that the zone, it’s volunteers and Andrew Fraser in particular did to make this happen,” Roberts said.
The Far North Coast Zone would like to thank Jason Dwyer, and the Lake Ainsworth Sport and Recreation Centre, for hosting the weekend.
