Game Plan Rugby Academy offers several great opportunities: first, it’ll be a great learning environment where U.S. coaches can achieve certification from the NZRFU and their Rugbysmart program, second, it’s a chance to work with USA national team coach Eddie O’Sullivan and observe his teaching methods, and third it will be a way to meet fellow coaches in a relaxed atmosphere where we can learn from one another how to innovate and improve our own rugby programs when we return home.

Playing rugby has taught me life lessons.  It has afforded me with opportunities to give back to society and communities.  I look to working with participants at Game Plan Rugby Academy 2010 to teach the importance and value of education.

Game Plan Rugby Academy 2010 is a unique program offered to support the development of rugby players and coaches.  Players will get a chance to compete for an exchange program while coaches will be given the opportunity to learn and to practice their rugby knowledge coaching youth during the academy.  What a great way to raise the awareness and educational level of the sport.  Looking forward to being a part of a great program as a camp director.

Aloha,

RugbySmart was introduced by NZRU in 2001 as a compulsory annual course for ALL coaches at all levels of rugby from Under 14 up. The course was developed in response to a growing number of permanently disabling spinal and brain injuries in the game in New Zealand mainly in either the scrum or the tackle. As a result of the programme and the increased awareness by coaches of the need for safe technique – the RugbySmart mantra is ‘Good Technique is Safe Technique’ – the number of catastrophic injuries has been reduced from an average of ten to twelve per year to only one or two. Of course one such injury is too many and the challenge is to ensure that our game at all levels is as safe as possible through excellent coaching.

Safety in junior rugby is catered for through compulsory coaching courses as part of the NZRU Small Blacks Development Model catering for all levels below Under 14.

Gameplan 2010 gives USA coaches based in Hawaii the opportunity to experience the RugbySmart Programme and to benefit from an extended version delivered over two days by NZRU’s three Regional Coach Development Managers. Coaches will have the opportunity to listen to the theory as well as experience the safe techniques covered in the course through practical demonstrations and a ‘hands on’ approach and then get the chance to deliver these new-found techniques to players. This inclusive version of the course was recently very successful in Italy with over two hundred Italian coaches attending a series of RugbySmart seminars in four regions.

In addition, Gameplan 2010 will include a number of modules from NZRU’s Developing Rugby Coaches’ Course which will aim to expand coaches’ knowledge and delivery in key areas of the game as NZRU looks to contribute to the development of USA coaches through involvement in the Gameplan initiative.

Remember…….’RugbySmart is RugbySafe!’

Richard Skelly | Coach Development and RDO Support Manager | New Zealand Rugby Union

Outlook: Cross Country at BYU Hawaii

“I think Game Plan Academy offers a unique blend of how college life as a student athlete will be.  I was taught how to get fast, stronger and most importantly I understand what it takes to be academically eligible for NCAA and NAIA sports.  Now, I want to go to college as an athlete and get a degree.”

Outlook: Basketball Scholarship to the University of Hawaii

“I use to think that I just want to play basketball, now I have learned about dedication and hard work to make it in college.  Game Plan Academy taught me to prioritize my goals.     I am taking my college future more seriously.”

Outlook: Football Scholarship to Princeton University

“I like Game Plan Football because it reinforced the college admissions and scholarship process and what it takes to be recruited.  The difference with this camp is that you are taught football and academic skills from the Education-1^st staff and coaches from all divisions I, II, III and junior colleges.  In addition, I made friends and learned the HAKA-from a Maori warrior.”

Outlook: Football Scholarship at BYU

“I have learned what takes to succeed in college as a student athlete from Game Plan Football.  I was impressed how coaches from all levels emphasized the importance of being a student athlete.  This camp is uniquely different than any other camp.”

Outlook: Football scholarship, University of Hawaii-Manoa

“I got meet life long friends. I am still friends with a lot of the guys at the camp. I really liked getting to know to other athletes in the state and get to know how they think and feel about different situations.   I liked the SAT- prep class because I learned a lot about the SAT test, so when I took the test I knew what was going on and I was more familiar with the sections.”

Outlook: Football scholarship, University of Hawaii-Manoa

“Overall it was a great experience. I got to meet so many new people and make good friends. The program was fun and I liked the different types of training…mental, physical…It was a great “hands on experience.  Gameplan was Excellent!  The SAT-prep class taught me strategies I never knew before and it helped me to boost my SAT score.”