The first Blog of a new commitment to myself to stay true to one of my values of creating, launching and building my website…
To share my knowledge and experiences with others…
“When one person teaches, two people learn (John Wooden)” via Wade Gilbert at GAIN X
This nudge is inspired by listening to the GAINcast’s ‘The First Hundred’ episode, where Vern Gambetta and Martin Bingisser reflect on their time launching and doing the GAINcast over the last 2 years, whilst driving up to Leeds to attend the Carnegie Adolescent Rugby Research (CARR) Conference at Leeds Beckett University earlier today where numerous members of the Carnegie Research Team would be sharing their latest research. Vern is a great inspiration and mentor to me and his wisdom to share his vast knowledge and experiences to the world through GAIN and the GAINcast are amazing opportunities to learn from someone who has been there and done it numerous times.
I have travelled 1000 miles around the UK this week on my quest to keep improving and #GettingBetterAtGettingBetter learning from people who share their knowledge and experiences…
I listened to Dave Already MBE present on Monday evening down at Taunton RFC where he shared his knowledge and expertise on Performance Language and Effective Coaching… I caught the train down to London on Tuesday morning to meet Matt Grainger, a new GAIN member, before he attends his first GAIN at GAIN XI in June at Rice University in the USA… I drove to Twickenham on Wednesday afternoon in London to meet up with Ric Shuttleworth, a world leading expert in Skill Acquisition research, to talk all things coaching… and as you have just read I travelled up to Leeds on Sunday morning leaving at 7am to attend the CARR Conference…
I have been very fortunate and privileged to have some of the best mentors and key influencers one could wish for…
What connects these dots…?! They have all produced at the highest levels of the game in the most intense and competitive arenas… and shared their knowledge and experiences with me…
Brian Ashton MBE. who took England Rugby to the 2007 Rugby World Cup Final as Head Coach and coached me in my England U19 team, is a fountain of knowledge for me and in the early 2000s he would share his knowledge & experiences at numerous Conferences and Seminars around the UK and now I can call Brian to seek advice and ask questions as my Coaching Mentor…
Wayne Smith, who was instrumental in changing the New Zealand All Blacks culture in 2004 that lead them to win back-to-back Rugby World Cups in 2011 and 2015 and helped set up my opportunity to coach rugby in Chile, back in October 2012 in the UK, shared how he helped create the Culture with the Chiefs that then went on to win the 2012 Super Rugby competition, plus the work on how he identified Try Scoring Trends and Patterns which inspired me to continue this work across various competitions in Professional Rugby…
Ben Ryan CF, who was instrumental in helping Fiji 7s win Fiji’s first ever Gold Medal at an Olympic Games at the 2016 Rio Olympics and asked me to help him organise and facilitate their pre-Rio 2 week Training Camp in Santiago, Chile, whilst England 7s Head Coach shared his Principles of 7s Play in Attack and Defence in the mid to late 2000s and then more recently how he helped Fiji win the Gold Medal through Independent Coach Education Seminars…
Canterbury Crusaders, Super Rugby’s most successful franchise, shared their knowledge and Culture with me when I visited their environment back in 2009 for 3 weeks… where I was blown away by their openness to share their Intellectual Property and their coaches to chat about all things coaching and Rugby in the café at the end of the road by the training ground in Christchurch…
So feel free to get in touch with me with questions you’d like answering or a particular topic you’d like to know more about…
I plan to write a weekly article every Sunday evening…
If I don’t receive any recommendations during each week then I’ll pick a topic or an experience to write about to share with you that I hope will help you on your Coaching Journey as one person teachers, two people learn…