GameStormers Update – What we learnt

On Friday the 23rd February ELRFC Minis coaches from Under 5/6’s through to Under 10’s joined up for an informal RFU led coaching development session. Concentrating on learning through games and Kids First Rugby the Gamestormers session has been developed to be a social interactive way to develop coaches and the games they use to coach our Mini rugby players.

Run on a Friday night the philosophy is to bring together coaches from different age groups in a relaxed environment to devise fun games and activities that coaches can use in their coaching session. Henry our local RFU rep came down with a couple of colleagues and ran a session with us.

The session wasn’t just theoretical though, after an hour indoors looking at what game based coaching is, and how we might design/plan a meaningful session. The next hour was outside, looking out how we coach through games considering interventions and key coaching processes. After all, if you can deliver a session to a bunch of old rugby coaches teaching it to a group of Minis would be easy!

The outdoor session was a real strength to this session even though it was one of the colder nights of the year. We could see first hand the benefits of preparation, devising simple games allowing for quick explanations, to keep people active and then introducing further elements during the game kept everyone involved active and warm. We all learned some great new games to try with our age groups.

We closed the session back in the warmth of the clubhouse looking at what worked well, what could be improved and how to keep our sessions fun.

Thank you to Henry and the RFU for running a really interactive session that strengthened our links between age groups at the club and was enjoyable for all who came down on a cold Friday night in February.