Training & Education
We need to increase the number of effective Volunteers supporting the playing of the game at all levels. We want all clubs and CBs to have effective administrators. We want all players to have access to a suitably qualified coach who provides a positive playing experience. In addition, we need to provide a suitably qualified referee for each and every planned match.
Objectives
Provide training programmes for Volunteer administrators
169 It is essential that training is provided to ‘develop’ Volunteer administrators within clubs, CBs, and referee societies to run their organisations effectively. We will develop such training programmes over the Plan Period in consultation with CBs and other stakeholders for a phased implementation.
Ensure all teams have access to high quality coaching supported by the best coach development system. Achieve a players/coach ratio of 15:1 by the end of the Plan period
170 If players are to be recruited and then retained they need to realise their potential and most importantly enjoy the experience. Undoubtedly one of the most significant and influential factors in players achieving this is their exposure to high quality coaching throughout their rugby career. High quality coaching is dependent on the production of high quality coaches which, in turn, is reliant on a coach development system that can be regularly bench marked, nationally and internally, against other sports and industry. We are setting ourselves a target of achieving a players/coach ratio of 15:1 by the end of the Plan period.
Provide a competent referee to every game. Achieve a players/referee ratio of 30:1 by the end of the Plan period
171 Competent refereeing is essential to a flourishing game as is the administration of refereeing. This in turn requires the best match officials’ development system to be in place by the end of the Plan period. ‘Competent’ in this respect means either a suitably qualified Society referee, or if not a Society member, then of sufficient experience for the level of game which has been confirmed by a person designated by the Society. By extending a target of referees outside Societies to clubs, schools and colleges, the quality of the game for all participants will be enhanced. We need to target an improvement in our players/referee ratio to 30:1 by the end of the Plan period.
Strategies and Plans
Develop resources to train and educate Volunteer administrators
172 The RFU will provide or facilitate provision of training resources to all levels of the game over the Plan Period. These would include induction sessions for new CB Secretaries and CB Treasurers and club administrators training linked to CB courses, printed material, CDs, videos and website presentations. The emphasis should switch over the period of the Plan to helping clubs help themselves. The provision of courses and workshops for club and CB administrators should be part of a continual process of improvement with the general objective of reducing the administrative burden on CBs and clubs.
173 It is vital that ongoing support for volunteer administrators includes examples of best
practice, reference materials, promotional materials, and templates. A cohesive information library covering all aspects of running a club, CB or referee society should be developed. This information should incorporate Sport England best practice and best business practice and be reviewed biannually to ensure that it remains up to date. The information provided should cover, for example, a ‘How To’ guide to:
- Start a club
- Run a rugby club including model structures and job descriptions
- Launch and run a mini rugby section
- Launch and run a youth rugby section
- Launch and run a ladies section
- Organise successful events
- Recruit and retain Volunteers
- Chair meetings
- Raise funds
- Work with the media
- Recruit and retain players
- Manage child welfare issues
- Secure appropriate insurance
174We will develop a new “Volunteer Model” that separates the duties involved in running a club into smaller, more manageable jobs that will encourage more administrators. Traditional roles within clubs require too much commitment for modern standards.
Develop schemes to recognise the contribution made by Volunteers
175 Rugby is fortunate to be served by skilled, dedicated Volunteers. These Volunteers have in common their love of the Game. They are prepared to contribute their time, knowledge and skill if they feel valued and derive enjoyment and satisfaction. Rugby has a culture that rewards Volunteers and the encouragement of traditional recognition, such as club awards and life memberships, will be maintained during the course of this Plan. We propose, in addition to the traditional forms of recognition, to develop Regional and National schemes to ‘Value the Volunteer’ in the most appropriate way and will continue to press for better representation for volunteers in the New Year’s Honours List.
176 We will also address the need to attract and encourage the next generation of Volunteers. The future health of the game depends on attracting the ‘30 somethings’ into administration. This age group may not be as attracted by the traditional forms of recognition and we should conduct a research exercise to establish what may provide incentives and motivation to this group.
Develop strategies to enhance the relationship between professional staff and Volunteers
177 Volunteers and professional staff work effectively together on many RFU Committees and Sub Committees but these are formal settings that do not really provide the opportunity to enhance and deepen the relationship between Volunteer and professional staff. A more effective approach would be to have elected and professional members working together in small Task Groups of three or four to tackle issues, projects and problems. Working together in this way is more likely to achieve the unity of purpose required.
178 For these small focused Task Groups to be effective we need to identify the best people to take on the tasks. These small groups should involve CB and club Volunteers in addition to Council members. Each Standing Committee will be asked to commit to the establishment of a number of such working groups in each year of the Plan.
Identify and eliminate non-essential tasks required of Volunteer administrators
179 Unnecessary paperwork takes the fun out of being a volunteer. Whilst some paperwork is unavoidable, such as CRB checks, we should question, wherever possible,
what value the ‘bureaucracy’ adds to the administration of the game. This means undertaking a review of all information that Volunteers are required to provide. This review should consider the time cost to the Volunteer of collecting the information as well as the benefit of the information to the game. By the end of the Plan, administrative tasks required of Volunteers should be eliminated if not justified. Where justified and agreed by the CB, new or existing tasks should be managed or introduced in a planned way that considers appropriate timing, communication and support/tools to enable Volunteers to comply.
Increase the number of coaches with National Coach Awards and provide development programmes
180 We will complete the development of the coach award structure linked to the National Occupational Standards (NOS) with all courses having a United Kingdom Coaching Certificate endorsement by December 2006. We will provide a nationally recognised standard which allows the RFU’s Coach Award Structure to be benchmarked against other sports in this country to ensure there is a standardised structure of coaching qualifications.
181 We will increase the number of qualified coaches, particularly at Levels 2 and 3, working in the youth and adult games, and develop a range of programmes which encourage recruitment and retention of those coaches by 10% per annum. This will ensure that there are sufficient high quality coaches at adult and youth level so that all teams and players have access to high quality coaching.
182 We will ensure that all courses and development programmes are subject to regular review on a bi-annual rota basis ensuring that they embrace the principles of fair play, safety and enjoyment, while covering all aspects of the game. All courses and development programmes will inform coaches of advances in the game, technology and law changes - aspects seen as vital to developing high quality coaches.
183 We will ensure all coach awards have a rigorous assessment system, a system to revalidate current qualified coaches and establish fast-track options for coaches with Accredited Prior Learning (APL) by December 2006. We aim to make certain that all achieving each coach award reach the minimum standard and display the relevant competencies. Moreover, through a revalidation process, we will ensure that active coaches continue to display at least that minimum competency level whilst recognising that certain individuals may have technical knowledge (through playing the game) or coaching abilities (through employment, for instance) that provides them with APL thereby allowing them to be assessed for initial coaching award above the basic level.
184 We will develop and implement a range of programmes which update current qualified coaches by December 2007. It is important that there are programmes that inform coaches of advances in the game, changes to the laws, technology and delivery methods.
185 It is essential that our coaching and refereeing programmes do not discriminate against anybody on the grounds of ethnicity, gender or cost. People from whatever background who give freely of their time to the game should not be disadvantaged. However, the provision of free resources does not work.
Recruit and Retain Coach Tutors, Trainers and Assessors
186 We will recruit and retain more RFU Tutors, Trainers, Assessors and Verifiers and ensure all are trained, licensed and committed to a programme of Continuous rofessional
Development (CPD). We should target achieving a 10% per annum increase over the plan period to provide sufficient numbers of qualified and trained personnel, with a very positive attitude to their own CPD, who will deliver the highest quality development programmes and assessment.
Establish a National Network of Club Coaching Co-ordinators and their links to
CBRDPs and other strategic partners
187 We will establish a network of Club Coaching Co-ordinators (CCC) with direct links to their CBRDP Coaching Development subcommittee and the RFU Community Coaching Department. We are targeting 70% of Section 1 clubs to have a CCC by December 2006. This will provide for a more direct link between clubs and the RFU for all matters concerned with Club Education and Coach Development.
188 We will actively support the establishment of CBRDP Coaching Development subcommittees and establish and maintain strategic alliances with partners such as Sport England, UK Sport and the IRB by the end of the Plan period. We will seek to assist CB’s and clubs to identify future coaches and aid the delivery of coach development programmes by RFU tutors, Trainers, Assessors and Verifiers. In addition, we will develop alliances with relevant International and National bodies to allow benchmarking of the RFU’s coach development system and to influence the development of coaching of rugby internally and the coaching of other sports nationally.
Develop a coach tracking system
189
We will ensure systematic tracking procedures are in place that will allow identification, development and mentoring of talented coaches. This will provide the opportunity to identify and develop coaches in the Community game with the potential to coach effectively in the performance sector. This will be one of the key deliverables of the ‘Rugby Passport’ and ‘Project Trafalgar’ IT projects
Implement a registration system for Referees
190 We will provide a system for compulsory registration of referees, whether they are society members or not, but who referee in schools, colleges or clubs by the end of the Plan period. We need to create a measurable system of monitoring referee appointments and a means of communicating law and game management changes within the community game. Within the Continuum the official may be either a coach or a referee. This will be one of the key deliverables of the ‘Rugby Passport’ and ‘Project Trafalgar’ IT projects.
Regularly review Referee training courses
191 We will complete the evaluation of the referee award structure linked to the National Occupational Standards (NOS) to ensure that it meets the needs of the game in line with the IRB and best practices within other Unions. We need to continually improve
the quality of performance of all match officials at all levels. We will provide a nationally recognised standard which will ensure that the RFU’s Referee Award Structure is benchmarked against other sports and industry in this country to ensure there is a standardised structure of refereeing qualifications.
192We will ensure that all courses and development programmes are subject to regular review and embrace the principles of fair play, safety and enjoyment, while covering all aspects of the game. We must ensure that all courses and development programmes take account of advances in the game, technology and law changes - aspects seen as vital to developing high quality referees.
193 We will ensure all referee awards have a rigorous assessment system and establish fast-track options for referees by December 2007. We will make certain that each candidate completing each referee award has achieved the minimum standard and displays the relevant competencies. It must be recognised that certain individuals may
have technical knowledge through playing the game or refereeing abilities through employment, enabling them to be rapidly promoted and bypass certain sections of the referees ‘pyramid of progression’.
194 We will develop and implement a range of programmes which update current qualified referee coaches by December 2007. These will ensure that there are programmes that inform referee coaches and assessors of advances in the game, changes to the laws, technology and delivery methods.
195 We must seek new methods of obtaining referees for whenever Rugby Football is played. The recruitment and retention of referees requires innovative programmes especially in the key focus area of youth rugby. We should keep under review the Disciplinary Regulations in relation to match official abuse. We need to ensure Society Administrators are up to date on policies and that they correctly administer the process.
Recruit and retain Referee Trainers, Assessors and Referee Coaches
196 We will recruit and retain more RFU Referee Trainers, Assessors and Referee Coaches. The training process should also be targeted at improving refereeing standards. We should target achieving a 10% per annum increase over the Plan period to provide sufficient numbers of qualified and trained personnel, who will deliver the highest quality development programmes and assessment. Specific training programmes and courses will be provided to meet the anticipated demand prior to the projected increase in playing numbers occurring.
Conduct a review of all Referee reward and recognition systems
197 To assist in the retention of referees the Referee Department should devise schemes for acknowledging and rewarding good service and be the focal point for exchanging good practice by Federations and Societies. Additionally the Referee Department should conduct periodic reviews to determine if there has been a change in culture that would support payment of referees officiating outside the National Leagues.
Improve communications and partnership working between the RFU and Societies
198 We will improve communication between the RFU, the RFRU Federated and Society Administrators, referees and potential referees and develop administrative and communication structures to promote the game including an enhanced website. We will establish a partnership between the professional staff and Societies in the recruitment and training of referee coaches and assessors and to provide succession planning for administrators to ensure sufficient support is available for match officials.
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