On Wednesday 19th November 2008, the Ospreys Coach Education Department, enlisted the assistance of Andrew Millward, Ospreys Regional Performance Development Manager and attended Pyle RFC, to deliver a coaching development session on the 'Contact Area'.
Before he has had a chance to get comfortable at his new desk, the Ospreys Community Department enlisted the services of Andrew Millward, Regional Performance Development Manager, to deliver a coaching seminar at Pyle RFC. The seminar, aimed at Level 1 and Level 2 Coaches in the Ospreys Region delved deep into the quagmire that is the contact area and to provide some clarity, also in attendance was WRU referee, Mark Jones, to offer his opinions from the point of law.
Andrew demonstrated a number of scenarios which could occur in the contact area and the coaches present were encouraged to express their views and ideas. Discussion revolved around pre-contact, contact entry, ball placement and ball security in contact. Andrew provided his opinions from his vast experience of 94 appearances for the Ospreys, and Mark identified any suggestions which were contrary to the laws of the game and his clarification was extremely useful to the coaches.
The practical session was followed by a very lively question and answer session both on the contact area and other aspects of the game, where coaches engaged with Andrew, Mark and Ospreys Coach Development Officers Dan Owens and Tony Thomas.
Ospreys Coach Development Officer, Dan Owens said "The evening was a great success and we were delighted with the interaction between the coaches and the presenters. We are very grateful to Bully and Mark for their time and expertise and the way they encouraged input from the gathered coaches. We would also like to thank Pyle Rugby Club for hosting the event and those players who took part in the demonstrations"
The Ospreys Coach Education Department has planned a programme of seminars and workshops to run throughout the year. The next events running through December will focus around Kicking. Please keep posted to the Ospreys website for further details.
We at the Ospreys are committed to improving the support we provide for coaches and would be grateful if you could all 'spread the word' about upcoming activities.