Every rugby coach in Scotland will this month undergo a practical coaching course as part of an extensive initiative to make the game safer and more enjoyable for all. The move is a development of Scottish Rugby’s Are you ready to play rugby? initiative launched last season to ensure that everyone involved is prepared appropriately to play, coach, teach and referee, the game, and follows a consistent, safe and enjoyable approach on and off the field. The practical RugbyReady update course is now a prerequisite to coach the game in Scotland and will be delivered to over 4000 coaches with around 100 courses planned in schools and clubhouses throughout the country. Every rugby coach in Scotland will this month undergo a practical coaching course as part of an extensive initiative to make the game safer and more enjoyable for all. The move is a development of Scottish Rugby’s Are you ready to play rugby? initiative launched last season to ensure that everyone involved is prepared appropriately to play, coach, teach and referee, the game, and follows a consistent, safe and enjoyable approach on and off the field. The practical RugbyReady update course is now a prerequisite to coach the game in Scotland and will be delivered to over 4000 coaches with around 100 courses planned in schools and clubhouses throughout the country. Glasgow Warriors head coach, Sean Lineen, attended an update held at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh alongside more than 60 coaches from the area. He said: Everybody involved in organising and playing rugby worldwide has a duty of care for the welfare of players and the ‘Are you ready to play rugby?’ campaign is an important initiative in promoting best practice in Scotland. Player safety is of the utmost importance and Scottish Rugby has worked extensively with the rugby community, medical professionals and academics to ensure that our sport continues to evolve with player safety as the number one consideration. With the amount of people playing the game at both adult and youth level growing each year these updates will continue to make the game as safe and enjoyable for everyone. The primary objectives of the course, which combines classroom-based and practical tuition, aims to identify key aspects of match preparation, correct technique, injury prevention and management, while also recognising the need to develop coaches and coaching at all levels of the game. Alongside Lineen at tonight’s practical course was Lasswade coach, Dave Cockburn. He said: I thought the Rugby Ready course was great. It was very informative. I didn’t know what to expect and perhaps some coaches who have been involved for a long time might have adopted the attitude in the past that ‘I don’t think I need to do that’. But for me I think it’s important that you go along to these courses with an open-mind. Health and safety is paramount and the information that was presented was very useful. The ‘Are You Ready to Play Rugby?’ campaign was launched by Scottish Rugby at the start of 2009 to ensure that a consistent approach to player safety is adopted across Scotland by all coaches, teachers, referees and volunteers. All of the safety initiatives introduced last season to reduce the risk of serious injury in rugby have been reviewed and updated and are all in place for this season. Safety Initiatives for season 2010/11 are detailed below: – Age banding: U16 males in U18 rugby, U18 males in adult rugby, U15 girls in U18 rugby – Player dispensation – Age-grade law variations – Minimum standards for coaches, teachers and referees – Injury management