Rugby Montana New Team Guide

Rugby Montana – New Team Guide

You have agreed to become a new rugby coach and/or start a new rugby team; now what? Where should you start? What should you do? What new responsibilities do you have? This guide should set you in the right direction. Please remember that this is going to be a learning experience, being prepared will help make the job a little easier.

Register with Rugby Montana

Notify the Rugby Montana Administrator of your intent to start a club and learn what training and resources are available to get you started. Provide the name of your club or team and specific age groups that you will be targeting. The Rugby Montana Administrator will provide available resources and get your club or team set up within the Rugby Montana registration database for you to get started. In addition, we will set up your account with USA Rugby for your club or team to help you get started.

Register with USA Rugby

Next you will need to register with USA Rugby (register under the “coach” or “administrator” category). This $65 registration will start the qualification process to coach youth rugby; it includes accidental injury insurance, liability insurance, level 100 coaching course, online coach resources, and cost of the background check. Go to click on Register in the top right corner. Select your specific team or club in the options provided for registering.

What type of training does Rugby Montana offer?

•Annual Level 200 Coaching Clinics

•Strength and Conditioning Clinics

•Level 300 Coaching Clinics

•Rookie Rugby training programs

Coaching Contact

•MANDATORY: Coach registered with USA Rugby and Level 200 certified @ least 1 per team

•MANDATORY: Yearly Concussion training (NFHS- Concussion in Sports) and required 10 Professional Development Credits (PDC’s)

•Strongly Recommends: All Volunteers register with USA Rugby as admin/exec/volunteer, fee $30 (includes background check)

•Recommends: Take Positive Coaching Alliance Course (online) Fee $30

Coaching Non-Contact

•MANDATORY: Coach registered with USA Rugby and Level 100 certified @ least 1 per team

•MANDATORY: Yearly Concussion training (NFHS- Concussion in Sports)

•Strongly Recommends: All Volunteers register with USAR as admin/exec/volunteer fee $30 (includes background check)

•Recommends: Take Positive Coaching Alliance Course (online) Fee $30

USA Rugby has 4 levels of coach certification. Rugby Montana requires that all coaches register with USA Rugby and complete the Level 100 certification process. The program helps guarantee player safety and well-being while providing valuable information regarding rugby instruction. Level 100 is offered completely online and instructions for completing the course are provided after a coach registers for membership.

The Level 100 “Player Protection Package” requires coaches to complete the NFHS Concussion course as well as the USOC SafeSport course. The final course is the IRB Rugby Ready. These courses provide coaches with a basic understanding of various incidences common in youth sport and how to handle them. The Level 100 will also require you to submit a background check. Only failing background checks will be reported. If you do not receive a notice from USA Rugby about your background check then you have passed the requirements.

The Level 200 coaching course will be offered, at minimum, once per season through Rugby Montana. This is a MANDATORY certification for all contact teams to have at least 1 coach at this level. The new coaching structure focuses on coaching the right thing at the right time with the best interest of the players at hand. The level 200 courses consist of a required prerequisite online session and a 1-day in person workshop. The shift in theory in the new course gets coaches on the field with ample opportunity to put into practice there coaching style and technical application. See Rugby Montana or USA Rugby’s websites for course dates and locations.

Should I develop a Parent Organization?

You can’t do it all! You are about to be inundated with a head-spinning number of tasks, duties, and responsibilities, all necessary to running a successful youth rugby team. Enlist others to help. Your parents want their child’s athletic experience to be positive and therefore, they have incentive to assist in making the season run smoothly. Consider the following roles:

●Team officers

●Team “Mom”

●Fundraising

●Events Coordinator

●Concessions Coordinator

●Spirit Wear

●Communication

●Webmaster

●Field Manager

●Culture Keeper

Hold a Parent Informational Meeting

Coaches are encouraged to establish effective lines of communication with team parents early in the season by holding a parent’s meeting. This meeting will set the tone for your team for the entire season.

Meeting Objectives

●Become acquainted with your team and their parents

●Review league, practice, and game schedules

●Review concussion signs and information

●Understand team goals and rules

●Understand league specific rules and structure

●Assign team parent roles

●Address any concerns of the parents

●Review parent, player, referee, and coach codes of conduct

●Review Laws of the Game

●Discuss registration and documentation required for players/parents

Things to Consider When Organizing the Meeting

• Hold it early in the season, preferably before the first team practice.

• Having the players present is optional. However, if they are not present then it is advisable to hold a meeting with your players and clearly explain to them what you explained to the parents.

• Do not hold this meeting at a bar. If you cannot hold it in a school, try a public library, private home, or community center.

• Be prepared and be organized to conduct the meeting efficiently.

• Prepare any handouts you would like to distribute, for example:

oSummary or outline of the meeting

oSchedule of practice and games

oTeam roster

oTeam goals/rules

oParents make excellent assistant coaches! Make sure to recruit and retain help from the earliest point possible.

oHave information on registration ready to hand out

How do I recruit players?

Rugby Montana’s leagues include the following divisions:

●Girls High School

●Boys High School

●Middle School - 6th Grade (with waiver from parent and coach), 7th and 8th Grade. We currently have a boys middle school division and are developing a girls middle school division.

●Rookie Rugby (K-6th grade) league (in progress)

The best way to recruit new rugby players is through teaching Rookie Rugby. These clinics are excellent for children ages 5 – 15 and can be held in schools, after school programs, community organizations, and anywhere a group of children gather for an organized activity. Rookie Rugby is an easy, safe, and inexpensive way to teach basic game play and the rules of rugby.

A team’s best recruiters are always the current players. They play rugby for many reasons, which should be shared with others in a positive and respectful manner.

Contact the Rugby Montana Administrator for additional resources.

Where can my team play?

Finding adequate field space may be a challenge. Dedicate time to do some research. While public parks may seem like an easy solution, Rugby Montana strongly encourages all organizations to make initial contact with the local parks department before assuming your organized team may make use of their facilities.

Do I need to make arrangements for referees?

Montana Rugby Referee Society will assign all referees. The Referee allocations will be set up through the Rugby Montana Administrator and the Referee Society at the beginning of the season. Teams are required to contact the referee, at least three days prior to a match to confirm or change matches.

Do I need to make arrangements for medical personnel?

Rugby Montana Association policies currently require the following:

The home team coach will be responsible to have a qualified athletic trainer, or EMT certified adult or better at every game. A coach may fulfill this requirement as long as he is able to immediately pass his coaching responsibilities to another coach and assume the EMT priority.

The home team coach will have an emergency plan [e.g. hospital directions] available to give to visitors.

New for 2017 – all teams will provide this information to the Rugby Montana administrator who will post all emergency plans to the State website.

Coaches will have the player’s emergency contact, insurance information and waiver release available at all times.

Failure of the home team to meet the requirements will result in a forfeit.

USA Rugby policy recommends the following:

By any means necessary a program should aspire to provide at minimum a Certified Athletic Trainer and ideally an appointed Medical Director, ATC and EMT at all major events.