This may be of some interest to some club/youth coaches:


Dates & Locations for Spring 2007


USA Rugby’s Game Development Division announced eight workshop sites for the early months of 2007. Each Coach Development Program (CDP) will offer two workshops: Introducing Rugby and Developing Rugby Skills.


The completion of these workshops is required as part of the USA Rugby Coach Certification, which is also aligned with the IRB certifications and offer equivalencies. Certification also includes completion of online modules at the Coaches’ Portal. Coaches are supported before and after the workshop with the Coaches’ Portal, which not only has the required online modules for the certification, but also has a bank of articles on all areas of coaching.


Using the web, the Coach Development Program has been able to bring coaches the latest drills, games and coaching strategies. The workshops are focused on helping coaches improve their skills in real coaching situations. Coaches will also gain a PREPARE certification from the National Center for Sports Safety (NCSS) and the Double Goal Coach Certification from the Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) in the process of completing their USA Rugby coach certification.

Follow up:

“USA Rugby has worked hard to reduce the cost and increase the educational value of these courses,” Game Development’s Sadie Thomas said. “The goal is to help coaches become eager to learn and improve. With our new partnerships with the NCSS, PCA and IRB, coaches are getting more education from the CDP than ever before.”

The first stop for the CDP this upcoming season is in Fla., which marks the first time in over a year that the Sunshine State has hosted a workshop.

“There will definitely be a lot of interest in Fla.,” Thomas added. “They have a lot of new coaches that should be anxious to get their certifications. We are also having another course in D.C., which in the past has had a large number of participants.”

Members that register two weeks in advance can attain certification for as little as $185, which includes a year’s subscription to the Coaches Portal.


For more information and to register for the CDP Workshops, please visit www.usarugby.org/cdp. For any further information, please contact Sadie Thomas at 303-539-0300 ext. 111 or sthomas@usarugby.org.