As part of a coaching exchange programme between the Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU) and the United Kingdom (UK) based Boost Coaching Academy, two certified rugby coaches have arrived in Guyana for a one-month coaching stint aimed at developing the sport locally.
The coaching exchange programme, which works in correlation with the GRFU’s Youth Development Programme is an annual undertaking and is now in its fifth year, according to President of the GRFU Kit Nascimento, who introduced the coaches to media operatives at a press conference held at Olympic House yesterday.
The programme involves the exchange of rugby coaches each year between Guyana and Boost, whereby the GRFU sends coaches to the United Kingdom to experience British rugby and its development. In turn, Boost sends two coaches to Guyana to share their coaching expertise and experiences with local coaches and players.
BOOST, which is an acronym for Building On Overlooked Sporting Talent, has for the past five years been “enormously productive” in developing local rugby, Nascimento stated after introducing the Boost coaches James Grabowski and Helen Phillips.
According to Nascimento the main purpose of the programme is to “Boost the development of rugby in Guyana” as the team will be conducting coaching sessions for schools and youths in and around Georgetown.
The 21-year-old Grabowski, who is a Level Two qualified rugby coach and has been sharing his coaching expertise for some years now, revealed that the team is here to observe Guyana’s rugby culture and “learn a lot from rugby out here”, and in the process “give back and develop the rugby.”
The UK-based coaching team has been primarily working with the local under-19 players, since this is the foundation from where the senior national team is built.
“I hope to develop the 15-man game with the under 19’s and help improve lots of the community rugby so that there’s grater participation for Guyana,” Grabowski said.
He is currently studying Human Biology at the Loughborough University and still plays rugby while being involved in “quite a lot of sports”.
Phillips, who is also 21-years-old, is the first coach from Boost to grace these shores, since according to her, “this is the first time that a lot of women started becoming involved in the programme.”
A Level One qualified coach, Phillips herself became involved with Boost “this year” and has acquired most of her coaching experience by coaching schools mainly in the UK.
“I’m here to learn what happens over here with rugby by seeing the culture and getting involved with the game and also to pass on some skills to coaches here,” Phillips related.
“I hope that we can learn form each other,” she added.
Apart from coaching, Phillips also studies Sports Science and Management at the Loughborough University.
The Boost Coaching Academy is associated with Loughborough University, which is a British Sports University located in the UK.
“This is important because it is the foundation of the success of the GRF. The team you see today, winning… They all came out, with very few exceptions, from our schools,” Nascimento said as he emphasized the significance of the Boost visit.
The Boost coaches have scheduled coaching sessions with Uitvlugt and Stewartville schools on the West Coast of Demerara on Tuesday and Thursday morning. There will also be coaching sessions on Wednesday morning at Covent Garden, East Bank Demerara.
In addition, there is also a planned visit to Essequibo’s New Opportunity Corps at Underneeming for a three-day workshop with the students. The team may also visit Berbice as the GRFU seeks to promote rugby outside of Georgetown.
Sessions will also be held in Georgetown at Parade Ground on Mondays and Fridays from 10 a.m and “all are welcomed,” according to the GRFU head.
