Head of Strength and Conditioning receives global award

Ash Jones, Edinburgh Rugby’s head of strength and conditioning, has just been named Professional Strength & Conditioning Coach of the Year by the discipline’s world leading membership organisation, the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). He said: “It is a worldwide award but the organisation is based in the USA which is why I didn’t really think I had a chance of winning, although I was honoured to receive the nomination. As the first coach from outside the the USA and the first rugby S&C coach to win the accolade, Jones admits the honour came out of the blue.With the number of S&C coaches across all sports in the United States, someone in America would have a much better chance of winning it but it shows the outward looking focus of the organisation.”Strength and conditioning is now an integral part of the coaching team and Jones, who joined Edinburgh twelve months ago, has now worked in three professional sports (basketball, rugby league and rugby union) across four countries (New Zealand, Australia, Japan and Scotland).He said: “My task when I joined the club was to lead a group of S&C coaches(Marc Keys & Jack Walsh) and to help develop the players to the best of their physical ability so that they are in the best shape to allow the head coach to focus on working on their game.By bringing in new ideas from my experiences across the rugby landscape I’ve worked in over the last 15 years, I want to help players achieve their best each and every day.”In addition to his work with Edinburgh, Jones was seconded to the Scotland squad for Rugby World Cup but applies the same principles to his work with each squad.He said: “My focus is doing the basics really well – simple is best. We’ve been introducing more skills activities into the warm-ups, especially training warm-ups, and looking at the development of speed and power in the weight-room programmes rather than focussing on strength.Northern hemisphere teams, in general, have always been very strong but not so powerful or explosive, that was the task I set myself, to work with my S&C team to develop those characteristics in the Edinburgh team.” Having worked professionally in the discipline since 1992, Jones has witnessed many shifts in focus and changes in procedures as strength and conditioning became an integral part of training across all sports however, he adds:”The biggest change I’ve seen is the use of technology, the tracking methods and monitoring aspects. However, to me, it’s the coach’s eye and experience which are paramount. All the improvements in technology are wonderful but if you don’t have the practical application to balance the science then you’re basically just a scientist and not a coach.”Scottish Rugby’s Director of Rugby Scott Johnson said: On behalf of everyone at Scottish Rugby I’m delighted to see Ash receive this recognition.The field of strength and conditioning is an integral part of preparing all our squads for competition and Ash has been a great asset to both Edinburgh Rugby and Scotland, since taking up his post a year ago, with his knowledge and implementation of his discipline second to none.Jones will receive the award at the NSCA Coaches’ Conference in January in San Antonio, Texas. Edinburgh Rugby currently sit in sixth place in the Guinness PRO12 and top their pool in the European Challenge Cup. The next match, against London Irish at BT Murrayfield, is on Friday 18 December and kicks off at 7.30pm.  The first leg of this year’s derby double-header against Glasgow Warriors, as Edinburgh seek to retain the 1872 Cup, takes place at BT Murrayfield on Sunday 27 December at 3.05pm. Tickets for all matches can be purchased online, over the phone (0131 346 5180) or from the Ticket Centre in Roseburn Street.