Leadership Through Rugby

As part of their PE curriculum, our Year 8 students complete a Tag Rugby coaching qualification which looks at leadership through rugby. Over the term, they have been working towards this U9 Festival and what a great job they did! 

We welcomed teams from Ayscoughfee Hall and Greenwich House as well as two of our own teams. The Y8’s planned a round robin format which saw each team playing in four 15 minute games. Credit must go to them all as they coped tremendously well, allowing Mr Short and I to take a step back and enjoy the tournament. They were allocated different roles which included running a skill zone, refereeing, time-keeping, running the line and leading a team which included some coaching/management and awarding certificates. 

Some comments from our senior pupils who played a major role during the afternoon...

I think coaching a team in the tag festival is a really good experience for me and the u9’s.  And I think all of it went well and our 6 week tag rugby course helped me coach St Hugh's red team quite well. NG
The tag rugby festival was a lot of fun for everyone and the teams all really enjoyed it. I was looking after Ayscoughfee Hall greens as their team ambassador.  They all really enjoyed the day and they and their coach thought it went really well.  Overall the day was an amazing experience for everyone. CT
I was one of the referees on the pitch Murrayfield.  There was some great tag rugby played by every team I saw but it was hard when the players disagreed with my decisions.  I learnt a lot throughout the course like how to evade being tagged and how to tag legally.  It was a great day as everyone seemed to be having a great day as well as showing the core values of rugby. JDC
I was really impressed with the way the tag rugby festival went, everyone really engoyed it and it was a great day.  We did really well refereeing, managing and working on their skills.  I was reffing and I think I did a good job to keep the game flowing.  The course was really fun and I learnt a lot and it made me a more confident person. RS
I was impressed with the way it went.  I was a referee and on my pitch there was some brilliant rugby being played.  I found it quite challenging but it also taught me a lot. I  found the course quite difficult as well as i was not the best at coaching but the course has helped me improve my coaching and make me more confident. JN
Coaching in the skill zone was a great experience as it felt like I was a true role model for the younger children.  The lead up to the festival was learning to teach others I found this challenging because I've never really done any rugby coaching before.  When it was the day of the festival I enjoyed every bit of it and it was great to experience it and I hope it is something they will benefit from in the future. GC
I think coaching a tag rugby festival was a great experience and quite challenging for a first time experience and I felt like I was a true role model to them and teaching them how to be  good players and be respectful.  I enjoyed every bit of coaching them and I'm sure they did too. EB