Two weeks ago I was lucky enough to be invited to the NHS St Helens, Knowsley and Whiston Hospitals Awards Night. 900 people attended The Liverpool Echo Arena and I was asked to present the winner of the Hattons Solicitors sponsored raffle with their £1000 holiday prize. My good friend Paul Sculthorpe was also in attendance along with Ricky Hatton and hopefully, the next British Boxing Champion to come out of this country, Martin Murray. The awards where presented to special people/departments who work at the hospitals without any day-to-day recognition. Although these people who received the awards where the stars of the evening, it was interesting to watch the legend Ricky Hatton on the table next to me. He was constantly being asked to pose for photographs. I’ve got to say this guy has got a lot of patience because he was up and down off his chair all night. I have to admit I was a culprit too …………
Last weekend we had a great night at Haydock Races, sponsored by Hattons Solicitors. Terry O’Connor and Barry McDermott took to the microphone with their humour and friendly banter before the races began. Shaun Briscoe told me how good he was at picking winners and how he had a fool proof plan but I never seen him going to pick up any winnings! The evening finished with a Simply Red concert and during the event The Wakefield Wildcat Dolls went amongst the 15,000+ and did a great job collecting for The Steve Prescott Foundation.
Last week saw the end of the school term for most schools. Many thanks go to St. Julie’s Primary Y3 children for organising a fundraising day, collecting over £157 for The Foundation through events such as bring and buy, cake sale, throwing wet sponges at the teacher and a giant 10p line. Also, last week, St. Julie’s Toddlers held a coffee morning and raised £600. Well done and thank you to all involved.
My 8-year-old son, Taylor has returned to football training at Liverpool, where he has gained a contract for this year. How bizarre does that sound? This has got me thinking again ‘have we got it quite right yet in rugby?’ He certainly is a lucky boy receiving a huge bag containing Adidas predator boots, 2 sets of training kit, wet jacket, tracksuit and polo shirt. More than what I got when I was a professional player!
Since he has been involved in football I have been comparing the way the two different sports introduce kids into the system. Do we groom our young future rugby stars early enough? In my opinion they are worlds apart.
In football, most clubs scout kids from the age of 5 to 8. They are invited to development centres to train for 6 weeks, and then if they show any promise they will move up into what’s called a shadow squad. Here they train once a week, practicing skills and core skills. If talented kids progress, they are moved up into an elite squad - Pre Academy. These train 3 nights a week and play matches on a Sunday afternoon. 2 to 3 coaches take these training sessions and there is a maximum of 18 – 20 children. They are coached skills, core skills, do lots of game related drills and play small-sided games 2 v 2 / 3 v 3. At the age of 9 years, they can be offered a one-year contract with a premiership club. This is when they play in a league against other premiership sides.
In rugby, kids are allowed to play from the age of 6 years. However, it is not until the age of 12/13 years, when service area begins, that most coaches follow a plan, which is set by a coaching matrix. Until this age, we rely on the generosity, good will and knowledge of parents and fans to coach the kids. Although these coaches may pass coaching qualifications, there is nothing set down for them to follow. They are forced to devise their own sessions without any guidelines. Who assesses them to see if they are doing the correct thing?
I am fully aware that money plays a massive part in the development of any sport and obviously football has a lot more funds dedicated to youth development. There must be some way we can catch up.
