Scottish Rugby host largest National Coaching Conference

Scottish Rugby Coach Development hosted their annual National Coaching Conference at Edinburgh Napier University on Saturday with over 160 coaches from across the domestic game learning from some of Scotland’s top professional coaches and guest speakers. Presentations and breakout sessions were delivered to school, youth and adult coaches, which focused on various themes, such as player welfare, coaching technology and developing cultures.Highlights from the conference included a review of Scotland’s attack from this year’s Six Nations, presented by Scotland Assistant Coach, Jason O’Halloran, who is set to join the Glasgow Warriors coaching team ahead of season 2017/18.World Rugby’s Lead Scientist, Dr. Ross Tucker, also delivered a presentation on the science behind player welfare, while Scotland Women’s Football Head Coach, Anna Signeul, provided an insight into changing environments and her coaching journey towards the 2017 UEFA Women’s European Championships.Neil Graham, Scottish Rugby’s Coach Development Manager, said: “This year’s conference provided coaches with an excellent opportunity to develop their knowledge of Technical Blueprint principles, with three keynote speakers and seven presenters all sharing their knowledge relating to their specialisms.It was great to see such a large turnout from coaches across Scotland, as the attendees had to opportunity to hear from leaders from the coaching and rugby world, and also enjoy the Champions Cup final at BT Murrayfield as part of the conference package.”The day combined presentations with breakout sessions from coaches and professionals in the highest ranks of sport.Mark Upton, Coaching Science Manager at the English Institute of Sport and Co-founder of performance sports consultancy, My Fastest Mile, focused on skill acquisition.Former Scotland international, turned talent and coaching consultant, Tony Stanger, focused on the process of developing a growth mindset culture, while Scottish Rugby’s Head of International Age Grade, Sean Lineen, explored developing Technical Blueprint attack principles through a review of the Scotland U20s squad.Dr. Tony Westbury, a leading sports psychologist from Edinburgh Napier University, provided an insight into athlete confidence and Murray Craig, from the University of Edinburgh, delivered on the integration of technology in coaching.Dr. Russell Martindale, from Edinburgh Napier University focused on the creation of a talent development environment while Stuart Ferrier from the Scottish Institute of Sport, provided coaches with a session on the behavioural science of children and adolescents.All of the sessions will shortly be available to view on the Scottish Rugby Online Training Hub, powered by Hive learning.Over 5,200 coaches and referees from across Scotland currently access interactive resources from the Online Training Hub. For more information, please visit http://scottishrugby.org/training-hub.