​Female coach Ciera heads up Strathendrick men’s squad

Ciera previously coached the U18 boys with the Fintry club and currently plays for West of Scotland women.

Ciera’s rugby journey began at Balfron High School where she first started playing the sport before becoming a Modern Apprentice (MA) rugby coach for the school in 2015.

“I never really knew what I wanted to do after I left school”, said Ciera.

“But I knew someone who was an MA with Scottish Rugby in the year leading up to leaving school and he encouraged me to look into it. I managed to secure an MA role and it was from there that I got involved with age-grade coaching at Strathendrick and it blossomed from there.”

Following her year-long MA, Ciera then took up a role as a Community Coach working in conjunction with Active Stirling and Strathendrick to coach children in primary schools across Central Scotland.

Ciera’s new role as the men’s Head Coach came about when she was approached by the team captain, who she has previously coached at U18 level.

“I got the phone call from the captain inviting me to consider taking on the role. The team felt I’d be a good fit because I’ve already coached a number of their players and I’m always around the club, so I have good relationships with them. I thought it was a really great opportunity and jumped at it.

“I’ve largely always coached boys but I was definitely nervous about coming into this role. I was thinking to myself ‘Would a men’s team want a woman as their coach?’ because there is still a preconceived notion that rugby is a man’s sport, but everyone has been really supportive and the team are fantastic to work with.

“I think that’s maybe why you don’t see as many female coaches taking on roles for boys’ or men’s teams, but women are capable of being every bit as good as men at coaching, I think it’s just about having confidence.”
Ciera Campbell

Strathendrick’s President Jeremy Pemberton-Pigott said: “We are delighted with this appointment. Ciera is home-grown talent and an excellent coach, who has earned this opportunity following many years developing her skills and knowledge whilst coaching through the age groups. The club gives her our full backing and our very best wishes in this new role.”

Coaching is central to developing, sustaining and increasing participation in rugby union as well as improving performance at all levels. Scottish Rugby is committed to developing a quality game by providing a coach development service to support member clubs and schools in their development of coaches.

Scottish Rugby offer a range of qualifications and workshops to suit coaches differing aspirations and are delivered across all of our regions in Scotland.

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