Girls Rugby U16s

Dont worry about the 3-6 mile runs. Its far too aerobic. 3km would be max and would only do that type of training for a short period of time pre season before more specific work. I would work more interval and tempo based training incorperating multi directional movements and skills (turns, get ups, jumps etc). Keep it simple but have an end goal of where you want their fitness to be and also where it would need to go next season.

Lise,
How long have you got? People make careers out of Fitness training for rugby. You dont say how fit the players are to start with - this will make a huge difference to what you can do. Is the group training session the only fitness they will do? (not unheard of with teenage girls who often have an image problem with fitness) If it is, and if they are all fairly new to fitness and rugby, some type of circuit training will be a good starting point. 2 easy ways to do this without kit:
- have 10 stations (pressups, situps, squat thrusts etc - cover arms, abs and legs), work for 20secs then change stations. IF they work in pairs or more then it is more communual and they can support each other. Rest for a couple of minutes then repeat. Do again (3 times in total) if they aren't tired enough! Vary the exercise times for variety, i.e. 30 sec, 20 sec, 10 sec, or increase as they get fitter, or add more exercises.

- Pair a fit player with an unfit player (at the middle of the group range, this does not really matter). 1 player does shuttle runs whilst the other does an exercise, then swap. i.e. 2 shuttles, 4 shuttles, 6 shuttles, 6 shuttles, 4,2 then rest. This is a bit more rugby specific. The key with pairing is the unfit players will take longer to do the shuttles, making trhe fit 1 work for longer, but the fit ones will do the shuttles quickly, which will help the unfit one to keep going.

Alex is right about running - it is better than doing nothing, but not rugby specific and the time could be used more effectively. Other examples are fartlek running (interval running), repeated sprints. This website article is a fairly comprehensive cover of all the aspects of fitness for rugby, and includes some other endurance type ideas to do instead of the 3km run.

www.stothertandpittrfc.co.uk/training/fitness_for_rugby_union.asp
Just to note it is aimed at adult players, so do not take the times etc as guides, but the principles and suggested exercises are all OK for teenagers.

Dave

You need to spend some time watching the team (and pref other teams too). Rugby is a complicated game with players in different popsitions playing VERY different game styles. Therefore the forwards and backs will need to train differently. Start with quality of movements and progess to to increasing performance once you are happy. A good starting point is how they: Fall/get up; change direction; sprint/accelerate/backpedal; lower their body (to retrieve ball, to tackle, to prepare to be tackled etc.). The sports plan webstite has some good links and I believe you can sign up for rugby coach's free newsletter from there which will give you lots of hints.

Hi Guys.
Iam also new to this site and new to been a coach for football. Iam trying to get a girls under 16yrs league team together in grafton. Some of this girls havnt played before so i want to know what resourses I can use to train and coach this girls to use at training. Also iam tryn to get other clubs involved in preparing girls teams to play against us. Can you help me with any advice i can use for these girls please? Kind Regards Kathleen Hinton

Hi Kathleen and welcome to the forum.
Hopefully someone will be along to advise you soon - but in the meantime here's a link to some relevant content on the site:

http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/rugby.htm

As one of the previous posters said keep all the drills short with changes of direction etc, such as going backwards and then sprinting forwards as well as adding sharp diagonal turns to forward sprints.
Also add such drills as sprinting from getting up from laying down with chests to the floor, as well as the players laying on their backs and getting up from the floor from each side.
Once you've got a good base of fitness for your squad you can then look to split the backs and the forwards and do different sprints with each group with the forwards looking to gain power with plyometric drills and then sprinting five to ten yards and the backs sprinting over longer distances to add to their game.

coachdave
Have you checked out this website which has free rugby coaching tips, drills, games all clearly illustrated betterugbycoaching.com
This is an article taken from there which you may find helpful - it's all about working on your players' core skills to boost rugby performance. Good luck!

Dynamic warm up drills to boost core rugby skills
Use the following rugby coaching tips to give your players a better start to training, whilst practising their core rugby skills.

Colin Ireland, Joint Editor of Rugby Coach Junior, looks at the current thinking on rugby warm-up routines.

To be ready for a rugby coaching session or game your players need to be:

Physically prepared.

Mentally prepared.
Warm-up drills these days are geared to the specifics of what lies ahead. So out goes static stretching, where you stretch and hold for a certain time, and in comes dynamic stretching, incorporating a range of movement.

In this way you gradually increase the intensity of the movements likely to be used in the next hour or so, while incorporating the required rugby skills into the warm-up routines. Make this related to the game and the mental preparation for the match can fall into place as well.

The benefits of dynamic, specific warm-up drills

You will spend the precious time you have with your players practising rugby and rugby skills, rather than doing general warm-ups.

You will see improvements in your players' flexibility, strength and their running.

Because of the shorter time spent preparing and the rugby nature of the warm-ups, your players will be better prepared mentally for the game or session.

Rugby is dynamic, so the warm-up should be dynamic. No long, slow flexibility type exercises that may only make your players slower and take the shine off your preparation.
How should the players warm-up?

Although your players will be working dynamically in the rugby coaching session or game it is important to raise their core temperature gradually. Working in a square (as shown in the warm-up routine below) and practising with rugby balls is one method.

Ensure the players start slowly and only speed up after several minutes of working.

"Warm-up crossover" rugby drill

Set up a large square with eight cones spaced around it - four at each corner, four in between these. Organise your players into eight groups of three or four. Each group starts with a ball and from one of the cones.
On your call, a player from each group picks up their ball. They then run across the square to the opposite cone, evading the players running in the other directions. When they reach the opposite cone, they pass the ball on to a player in that group who repeats the rugby drill.

Players can be directed to move across the square using a variety of movements, such as:

Lunge walking – to loosen the hips, improve leg drive and strengthen the hamstrings.

High knee lifts – to improve hip flexor and ankle strength.

Touching the ball on the ground twice – to increase hip flexibility and hamstring strength, and stretch the lower back.

Calf walking – to extend the ankle on each step.

Running sideways and backwards, and skipping.

Running across in a crouched, driving position.
Once across the square, think also about how the next player might receive the ball. For example, rather than have the players pass to each other, the receiver could have to rip the ball out, with the ball carrier providing some resistance.

Repeat the warm-up for several minutes and each routine a number of times. Start slowly at first, then build up the speed. This will help your players warm-up properly, all while practising core skills.

Hi, this article has advice about coaching girls' teams. It might be relevant to your age range.The article is taken from betterrugbycoaching.com

Coaching rugby to girls
The number of teenage girls playing rugby has exploded! Fortunately, you've got years of experience coaching rugby to boys so you know just what to do when you coach girls - don't you?

There are now some 200 clubs in the UK active in girls' rugby. Some teams survive and thrive, but many do not. However, sections that fail rarely do so because of a lack of interest or ability of the players, but due to problems with coaching. John Birch, an experienced county coach of girls' rugby teams and team manager at Letchworth RFC, identifies the main differences between coaching young men and young women.

Language

What you say matters. Remember your girls have already made a huge step by seeking to play a "boys" sport. Maybe they'll be teased about it. Boys have innumerable male rugby role models, but most girls will seldom, if ever, have seen women playing the game. The foundations on which they stand will therefore be shaky.

So avoid saying anything that reinforces the image of rugby being a "man's" game. So instead of saying "pass to the man on your left" or "eight-man scrum", say "pass to your left", "eight in the scrum".

What to expect from girls

Group dynamics: Girls are generally natural team players, and far more so than boys of the same age. Selfish "star" players who never pass, always expect to be picked, and demand to be the centre of everything may exist in female sport, but if they do then they are exceedingly rare.

Sporting experience: In practice girls are remarkably unselfish. On the field they will pass readily, sometimes to the point where you nitially have to stop them passing so much and get them to run with the ball first.

In Commonwealth countries particularly, this is partly a function of their previous sporting experience, especially of netball, a sport which is played only through passing and catching. However, there's a downside - netball players have to stop immediately they catch the ball. This similarly can be a reflex reaction among new girl rugby players.

Communication and learning

The standard "I speak, you listen" method of coaching rarely works for long. Girls will want to discuss things. So while you must still retain control, allow girls more of a chance for a free flowing discussion. You will then often find that despite or because of this, when you start the drill girls will understand it much better than boys.

Girls tend to learn far more quickly than boys. One consequence of this is that you must be prepared to cover more in a session than you might for boys of the same age.

Strength and aggression

Although it's not always the case, girls tend not to be as naturally aggressive as boys. On the one hand I find that I repeat the phrase "don't be so NICE!" often in the first season with a set of new players. On the other cheating and general gamesmanship is quite rare. When they do occur, there's a remarkable, even disproportionate, outrage among the team.

Clearly the most obvious difference is in physical strength. Up to about 13 or 14 there's little real difference between girls and boys, but after that age most girls seem to stop growing. Not surprisingly some tactics and drills that rely on pure muscle can be inappropriate. It does mean, though, that a wider age range of players can play and train together.

A summary of the differences between coaching boys and girls

Boys tend to…

Have positive male rugby role models.

Have seen many hours of men's rugby.

Kick the ball.

Have to be encouraged to work as a team.

Require a new skill to be introduced in several ways.

Be mature enough to take on a significant leadership role from 15 or 16.

Grow significantly until 18 or 19.

Be suited to tactics based on strength and aggression.
Girls tend to…

Not know of any women rugby players.

Have never seen any women's rugby.

Throw and catch a ball.

Naturally work as a team.

Learn new skills very quickly.

Be mature enough to take on a significant leadership role from 13 or 14.

Grow significantly until 14 or 15.

Prefer tactics based on skill and speed.

Hi, this is taken from a blog by Dan Cottrell, coach to Welsh women's rugby team the Ospreys. His comments seem very relevant to this discussion.

Fit 4 rugby or rugby fit?

You are constantly facing a dilemma at training. Unless you are working with a semi-pro or fully professional team, it is unlikely you have any direct supervision over the players’ fitness training. So you have to either trust that fitness will be done outside training, or make fitness a part of your session.

Some coaches will swear by a vigorous fitness preseason, where the players spend more time running and pushing than working on skills. The hybrid coach will have more skills work. And any other coach is just a fool?

Personally, I have been through a number of regimes. There are hills on the outskirts of Bristol that I never want to see the bottom of.

However I was superfit at the start of some of the seasons, injury permitting. And yet the first couple of games were excruciatingly hard work on the lungs. My legs felt like lead and it seemed that no amount of training had been effective.

Then someone said to me that I didn’t run up hills on the pitch, or run backwards and forwards constantly for five minutes. As a winger I probably did about 20 full on sprints, made about 20 contacts and some other bits and pieces, plus some running to get into position. Easy work in comparison to the forwards of course, but their conclusions were the same

I am still saying there is value in aerobic conditioning or weights programmes. However, and this is the key, all the programmes have to be specific to the player’s position and the player in question. If you are going to be using training for some or all of your fitness, make it individual. Or put it another way. Make any unit skills session highly intentive and game related. Then the players will be replicating what happens on the pitch, skills and fitness wise.

Don’t get the players fit for rugby, get them rugby fit.

Hi I'm writing to ask if they is any rugby team I can play in