Woman In Rugby

On Sunday I attended a conference about coaching the female athlete. Hosted by the Burlington Centaurs Rugby Club.

Primarily the focus was on how to effectively coach female athletes and the different strategies that will keep them not only performing physically but also taking care of the athletes on a psychological level to maximize performance.

It was a very productive and positive experience from beginning to end. It was great to listen to representatives from:

… to name but a few.

Although I think the highlight for me was listening to Jane Kirby-Addeo talk about how representation matters. We need more female athletes, coaches and board members to usher us into the next era of women’s sports. Hearing her speak about her journey only makes me more hopeful that we are heading in the right direction.

Jane Addeo (nee Kirby)
President of the Fergus Highland Rugby Club

Another positive for me was seeing the male coaches both speakers and attendees that came to the event and to see how much passion and care each of them put into training their female athletes! We are all responsible for ensuring out female athletes are taken seriously and given an equitable chance in their sports as I believe this is key not only to their early lives and sporting careers but also to the confidence they develop off the field and will be taking with them into the real world. Although I fully believe we need more female representation, the men that stand with us are equally important.

Although I was approaching the conference as a strength and condition coach whereas most of the attendees are coaches of (mostly) female rugby teams, the information was very transferable to my needs as it was to everyone else. When we talk about injury prevention, psychology, coaching strategies and representation; each person was able to take away a new piece of valuable information. We are all learning and striving to be better each and every day; that is one of the core values here at SST and was so wonderful to see it in so many people over the course of the day!

The day was time well spent, THANKS CENTAURES RUGBY CLUB

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