Former England centre Barrie Corless was honoured for his long service to coaching at last weekend's Midlands Coaching Conference at Warwick University.
Corless, who won ten caps between 1976 and 1978, enjoyed an illustrious senior playing career with Birmingham, Coventry and Moseley before he moved into coaching.
He was a regional Technical Administrator for the RFU before becoming director of rugby at Northampton, Gloucester, Moseley then Nottingham. He still retains an active involvement in coaching at schools level in Stratford.
Corless's role in promoting rugby coaching as a profession was recognised with a Services to Coaching in the Midlands award at the Conference, which was the first time that Coaching Awards have been made at the annual event.
Other Coaching Awards went to Brian Dobbs of Nottinghamshire club Ashfield won the Club Coaching Co-ordinator of the Year prize.
Dobbs' award was recognition of the outstanding work done by Ashfield over the last four years in developing a thriving junior section, which now boasts 150 players with at least two qualified coaches in each age group, from nothing. The number of qualified coaches at the club has increased fourfold over the last two years.
The Junior Coach of the Year award went to John Fuchs of Newark whose Under-17 side won the National Under-17 Plate at Worcester in May. Newark won their national title with a large and happy squad of 45 players.
Senior Coach of the Year was Chris Loeber of Matlock who, despite having limited resources at a relatively small club, still manages to put out a competitive team each week, a tribute to his organisational skills.
The Coach Educator of the Year went to John Widdowson, assistant coach of the Warwickshire side that won the County Championship Shield in May and former director of rugby at Burton. Widdowson is now a coach tutor and passes on his knowledge and enthusiasm to Level One and Level Two coaches on his courses.
The coaching conference was attended by 129 coaches from across the Midlands who braved bad weather and were involved in a varied and interesting programme over the three days.
The Midlands Coaching Conference also featured sessions from Daryl Gibson, the Leicester Tigers and former New Zealand centre, Carl Douglas, the Player Development Manager at Leicester Tigers, former England Under-19 manager Tosh Askew, Antonio Coelho of the Portugal RFU and Marzio Zanato, head coach of Italy A.
A packed programme ended with presentations from Matt Sherratt and Stewart Pickering of Worcester Warriors, who discussed the role of conditioned games in skill development and fitness.
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