Introducing children to rugby: elite coaches’ perspectives on positive player development

Playing by the Rules: A Developmentally Appropriate Introduction to Rugby Union

“…While it could be argued that children are not best placed to suggest what is the optimal structure for the game they play, it is interesting to note that their views were largely echoed by elite rugby coaches asked to discuss what they believed were the key components for organized rugby union participation during childhood [22]. The coaches identified the importance of an age-appropriate competitive games pathway, where more specialized skills are built sequentially on top of the foundations of basic evasion, handling and tackling skills.…”

“…The coaches identified the importance of an age-appropriate competitive games pathway, where more specialized skills are built sequentially on top of the foundations of basic evasion, handling and tackling skills. In particular, elite coaches identified that an emphasis on less structured games (deliberate play) and early diversification (sampling) were beneficial for player development in the mini rugby years (under 12) [22].…”

“…A recent study by Burton et al in 4 th grade (8 to 9 years old) flag (non-contact) American football provides supporting evidence for the potential of such 'competitive engineering' [21]. Competitive engineering aims to create positive youth sport experiences by modifying the structure, rules, facilities and equipment of competitive games [21,22]. By introducing a new defensive rule and modifying the size of the ball, scoring increased by over 100% and player dropout levels fell by more than 50% [21].…”

“…The RFU recently trialled new rules of play (pilot) at U9 level, where contact is first introduced to children. These rules were based on the overarching principles behind the DMSP (early diversification and reduced structure) [2] and were supported by the views of elite rugby union coaches [22]. During the entire 2010/11 season three English counties were nominated to play the pilot rules and were selected to represent the north, midlands and south of the country.…”

Research on Key Elements of Campus Soccer Development Based on Interpretative Structure Model

“…Since the development of campus football in 2009, the relevant scholars on the development of campus football problems endlessly put forward a number of constructive comments and suggestions, simply presented one by one: the establishment and improvement of the campus football four league system; gradually improve the mechanism [1]; improving the administrative management system; to educate the main department of the management [2][3]. The relevant departments attach great importance to the research results and introduce a series of policies to solve the problem of the development of China's campus football, but the policy points to the problem are parallel, there is no focus.…”