The Ospreys have recently hosted a training seminar organised and supported by Careers Wales for Comprehensive School PE Teachers throughout Ospreylia.
OSPREYS TEACHER DEVELOPMENT DAY IN ASSOCIATION WITH CAREERS WALES
The seminar held at Llandarcy Academy of Sport consisted of 3 deliveries by Ospreys High Performance staff, and the teachers in attendance were treated to a buffet lunch, followed by a question and answer session with the deliverers.
Scott Evans of Careers Wales introduced the day with heart felt gratitude and appreciation for the Ospreys and its development staff to award their time so freely to such a worthwhile event. Tony Thomas, Coach Education Development Officer for the Ospreys, followed in Scott's footsteps and offered acknowledgement of the hard work that Careers Wales has submitted to organise the day and also the time given by those teachers in attendance to expand on their own personal development.
Andrew Hore, Director of High Performance delivered the initial session and made a presentation on 'Talent Identification'. This was extremely enlightening and indicated the depth of research and follow up that is involved in the search for the next generation of players.
Keith Holifield, Conditioning Coach for the Ospreys Academy then gave a demonstration of conditioning activities which could be adopted by the teachers, and put into practice with their more senior players at their respective schools. The activities were tailored to assist in the development of more rugby specific training programmes to generate better physical performance on the field.
The final presentation was a practical session led by Gruff Rees, the Ospreys Skills Coach. This session gave an insight into the attention given to individual skill development with High Performance players. It is the attention to detail that can allow players the skill base to make and execute split second decisions on some of the grandest stages in world rugby. Gruff advised those present that even the most experienced international players still receive developmental training on their skills, in order to shave milliseconds off their execution time of some of the most basic of rugby skills.
The seminar was an indication of the determination of the Ospreys to engage with all elements of our rugby community. We endeavour to provide continual development to all parties involved in the game within our region and to support our key stake holders in the development of their players. Strengthening links with schools of the region is an integral part of this strategy, and the Ospreys Community Department are working tirelessly to engage the teachers on a more frequent basis; the more contact we can make, the better our region can become.
As always, suggestions are welcome on how we can better assist the development of staff, please email Tony Thomas at tthomas@wru.co.uk with any comments.