Being a fan of rugby for as long as I can remember, when the opportunity arose four years ago to coach the under 7’s team at my local rugby club, the Gosford All Blacks, I thought I’d give it ago. Since then, I’ve gone on to lead their schools and communities outreach programme which aims to bring new children to the club and develop local interest in the sport. So when Woodstock Primary School approached the club to take part in their Sports Week, which allows their pupils to experience lots of different sporting activities, I jumped at the opportunity. As the event took place during the week, I chose to use my yearly charity entitlement, given to me by Intertronics, to donate a full day of my time to this worthwhile and rewarding event.
When I arrived at the school, rugby appeared to be the talk of the playground, with numerous parents telling me during the morning drop-off, how excited their children were to be having a go at rugby for the first time.
Supported by Jess from our girls U18 team, we ran sessions from 9 till 3pm, for groups of 20-30 children at a time – 210 children in total! It was a treat to watch the kids get stuck into our game-based sessions, which focused on the core aspects and culture of rugby – Teamwork, Respect, Enjoyment, Discipline and Sportsmanship.
Jess and I received some fantastic feedback from the teachers at Woodstock Primary, which briefly made me forget about how tired my feet were after taking 37,000 steps during the day:
“The coaches were fantastic and had an amazing rapport with the children, it was very obvious they were naturals and quite clearly are excellent role models. Thank you. The children loved it.”
“The children in my class were beaming when they came back in. Thank you to the coaches for putting on such an excellent session.”
I can’t thank Intertonics enough for the opportunity to provide a fun and enjoyable introduction to a sport that many have never tried before, and to support our local community.
Woodstock Primary School pupils jump at opportuntity to play rugby during sports week
