JUNIOR REPORT: Facilities offer coaches a lifeline

I know a number of you would live by the statement ‘never tempt fate’.

Only last week I had been speaking so highly of our facilities when the weather decided to take a turn for the worse.

Unfortunately the weather had been such a pain over the last week that I was forced to cancel a number of school tournaments that were meant to take place.

But despite this, a sprinkling of snow over the weekend and an icy morning provided our coaches a real opportunity.

Instead of cancelling the training sessions for our younger age groups (under-sixes to under-12s) on Sunday morning, the coaches all decided to move their sessions indoors.

Throughout Sunday morning, we had up to 150 children in the sports hall, dance studio and squash courts in Barons Fitness, all playing rugby, all delighted with their new training environment.

It truly was a fantastic sight. A morning of team building and games, combined with some skill work to keep our players developing well technically, was certainly a success in what could have been.. let’s say.. a less productive morning.

The icy conditions also meant most of our junior fixtures were called off, but fortunately our under-17s were able to take to the field in Wetherby.

Only having 11 players at their disposal, they still made the trip and had to play with a player less – as stated by league rules.

Remarkably, the side put in an outstanding effort coming out eventual winners with a 22-30 score-line.

A huge well done to those lads this week, it takes real guts to want to play in the current weather, especially to do so when you don’t have a full team.

The side have moved up into fourth in the league table, and with a trip to Hullensians next, there is no reason why they can’t climb higher.

This coming Sunday most of our junior sides are playing away, but our under-13s will be in action against local rivals Bridlington.

I’m sure this will be a fantastic match, and a good marker to see how far our youngest junior side has developed this season.

Meanwhile, our minis section will be hosting a number of teams from East Yorkshire in a mini tournament at Silver Royd.

On Monday and Tuesday of this week, I had support staff from Yorkshire Carnegie join me with my school delivery.

The staff were also keen to take over our junior side’s training sessions during the week too.

I’m always happy for external coaches to come and join in with my sessions as I believe hearing a different voice is vital for younger players.

Sometimes what you’re saying may be perfectly true and accurate, but players become accustomed to the sound of your voice and may not respond as well.

I also learned a few technical pointers as well, so I’m very thankful for their help. Don’t forget the club is hosting Yorkshire Carnegie on December 13.

It’s a rare opportunity to watch professional sport in this town, so I would highly recommend getting a ticket.

I wanted to finish by discussing the importance of persistence in all walks of life, not least with training for all those aspiring rugby players.

We are fast becoming a culture where we require instant gratification, we want to see instant results.

So many diets, training plans or quick schemes to get rich, forget the importance of time in their effectiveness. I often tell my players they have to treat their development like a farmer would treat his crops.

He sews seeds, cultivates them and then harvests them.

The most important process is cultivation, because this is where seeds are nurtured and grown. It’s no surprise this is also the process which takes the largest amount of time.

For players, the start is turning up to training and wanting to be better players. The cultivation is the dedication they show to continue to train, to study the game and develop over time.

The harvest is them reaping the rewards of being better players, and looking back at their career and seeing how far they’ve come.

Unfortunately with all elements of life, you can’t simply reap rewards of processes you haven’t cultivated.

If you want to achieve something it takes daily discipline, and time.

But there is no reason why every player I coach can’t reach their potential.

The Active Youth Scheme isn’t designed to be a one-hit-wonder. It’s a process.

We want to develop the youth of this area over time and help shape their lifestyles in a positive way.

Hopefully, with the continuous support of McCain, we can continue to deliver.

Thanks for reading,

Tomasz