The needs of the many

Someone told me to write what I know about - which to them I think meant I need to stop writing altogether :) This week I decided I will write a post about something that I am passionate about instead of knowledgable, so if you want to read a post about rugby continue on, if not you might want to stop here :)

I believe it was a certain pointy eared Vulcan that first said "Logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few" - to be honest I had no idea it was a Spock quote till I Binged it - but that is the logic behind this weeks word jumble. Yes it is about rugby,  more specifically youth rugby and what I believe needs to happen for the game to grow not just as a sport but as a personal development tool for youth in the US and other countries.

'But James', you say, 'rugby is all about big lugs with cauliflower ears and broken noses smashing into each other with nary a care for life nor limb'. Well, kind sir/madam, I have to disagree. Rugby used to have a lot more punchy rucky stuff and sure there are still some large hard lads playing the game however the modern game has changed so much at the professional level that you don't see punches thrown, and contact to the head area tends to result in a sending off either for 10 mins or the rest of the game, leaving your team at a disadvantage (something they should incorporate in Too-Many-Pads Ball). Anyway what I am talking about here is youth rugby and growing the sport at the grass roots level.

Back home in NZ youth rugby (though High School) is played as weight grade rugby. I am not sure when that was bought into effect but I am pretty sure it has always been that way. My High School of 750 kids had roughly 23 rugby teams, so with reserves etc that was about 450 kids playing rugby (we also had some field hockey, no kicky round ball though). We played in weight grades until we were big enough (or physical enough) to play open grade. We had A teams through to E teams in some grades and even though the E team would seldom win a game the kids still laced up the boots every weekend to take the field. No participation trophies were handed out, you lost or you won and then you came back again next week to win or lose again. The thing was though, thanks to weight grades, you won and lost to your physical peers, you didn't get stomped on by team of 6ft 12 year olds that all weighed 200lbs when your lot were 5ft6 and 140lbs. (Yes I know this should be metric but talking about US Rugby here so shush). Hindsight being 20/20 I think this is why NZ Rugby is so strong, kids get to develop as players, get to develop their skills, get to develop into older kids without fear of being hammered into the ground.

Now don't get me wrong there were/are some damn hard kids playing weight grade rugby that can put you on the ground and leave you there for a second or two, but it is different to playing against a kid that has 60lbs on you just shunting you out of the way. It is also quite different for the parents to see equal size kids playing each other as opposed to having little Timmy stomped on by a kid that is as big as the parents watching the game. If we want to continue to grow rugby in the US we need the parents to support their childs' desire to play the game, not drag them away because they are quite simply being bullied off the field.

There are some coaches that are adamant that age grade rugby is the way to go, their argument being that the bigger kids in the same age group are not developed enough to play up an age category (essentially). These coaches tend to have a few bigger kids on their age grade teams (surprise surprise) and quite frankly are not being good stewards of the game. We all know that repeated heavy impacts to the head can cause long term issues and the higher level of consciousness that this information has now with CTE studies etc is scaring parents away from letting their kids play contact sports. I have heard that youth rugby in Utah is suffering badly at the moment due to the influx of Polynesian players who are (on average) naturally larger at the same age as their Caucasian counterparts. Now having a 12 year old play at High School level due to his size may seem like a bad idea (and in many cases it is) however having 8 other kids stop playing because they just cannot compete with larger size kids is an even worse idea.

The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

Then I hear "Well we don't have enough players as it is and if these kids can't play blah blah blah...". Well that argument is once again not in the best interests of the sport, maybe you don't have enough players because you are not working on the grass root development components like getting kids to play touch rugby and then going from there. The other day a person said to me that touch rugby doesn't teach you anything about rugby as there is no tackling, he of course is wrong. Touch teaches you team work, support, lines, defense, running straight, passing, communication and even better it is something all ages can play (boys and girls). Touch teaches you the skills vital to playing the game well and at speed, and it is also a great developmental tool for a rugby club and also for the individuals playing the game.

I guess the bottom line in this is that if we want the game to continue to grow and if we care about the wards in our charge then we need to move to a weight grade system for youth rugby. It will bring more parents and kids to the sport, it will give kids the ability to work on the rugby skills they need to grow in the game whilst reducing some of the injury risk (any sport has an inherent injury risk but playing like size kids against each other will mitigate some of that risk) and it will assist in forging in the kids that play the long term skills that rugby teaches. Most specifically team work, communication, camaraderie and decision making, all skills that are beneficial well after the boots have been stored and the game time stories fully embellished.

There will be no growth in this sport in the US if we don't realize what is driving youth away from the game. All Youth Rugby Coaches need to know that they are assisting in developing the leaders of tomorrow and they need the boy and girls that play for them and play against them to enjoy the game, to respect the coaches and to respect the rules.

How, can we as coaches, expect our players to respect the game if we do not respect the players?

The only way to show them respect as youth players is to make sure there is parity until they are large enough in physicality, or in want, to play with the big boys (and girls). If they never want to make that step that is fine, if they only want to play touch rugby that is also fine, if they don't learn life tools that will assist them for the rest of their life, well that is not fine. Rugby is more than a game and if you don't acknowledge that as a coach then you need to remember this one thing. The best team in the world, the team that has been ranked number 1 in the world for the last 8 years, the winningest team in the history of team sports with an 84% winning record over the last 130 years, the Boys in Black clean up the changing rooms after every game. If that doesn't tell you something about the game they play in heaven well then there is no helping you.

The times have changed and we need to change with them for the good of the game and the good of the youth playing the game.


This weeks post was bought to you by the smell of fresh cut grass, the sound of tape being ripped off the dispenser as it is wrapped around thumbs, fingers, elbows, knees and ears, the smell of liniment applied to legs then carefully washed off hands before the final bladder voiding (learnt that one pretty quickly), the nervous laugh, the slap on the back, the feeling of camaraderie, the running out on the field and the satisfaction of the first hit. It is bought to you by the next day aches, the X-Rays, the broken thumbs, the separated shoulder, the fractured vertebrae, the headaches that last a couple of days, the broken noses, the bust arm that you played with for 40 mins and the knowledge that it is never going to get any easier to get out of bed in the morning. It is bought to you by the many trips you have to take to the back cracker, 800mg of Vitamin M, the knowledge that things would be much easier now if you hadn't put your body on the line all those years ago and by how the numerous occlusions on your brain are not a good thing but you are not sure you remember why :)  It is bought to you by this and so many other things that the game of rugby has given and most importantly it is bought to you by the fact, and given the chance, you would do it all again - just a little harder :)



Work hard, play hard and earn your inspiration

Happy Poets Day

Cheers
Coach Kiwi