National Sevens rugby coach and player Theodore Henry will depart Guyana today for the United Kingdom to participate in a six-week coaching programme at the Loughborough University in Leicestershire, United Kingdom.
This is part of a coaching exchange programme between the Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU) and the UK-based Boost Coaching Academy.
According to Henry, speaking briefly to Stabroek Sport via telephone yesterday, this will be his inaugural stint at the Loughborough University as part of the coaching programme, which will last approximately six weeks.
“The programme starts as soon as I get there. Basically my goal is to experience their way of life and try to grasp as much as I can in terms of coaching and learn from the other coaches,” Henry explained.
The last Guyanese coach to benefit from the coaching exchange programme at the Loughborough University was Guyana Defence Force rugby coach Clinton Clark, who was selected for the programme last February.
And as part of the Boost exchange programme last year, two certified rugby coaches from the Loughborough University, James Grabowski and Helen Phillips, arrived in Guyana for a one-month coaching stint aimed at developing the sport locally.
The coaching exchange programme is an annual undertaking by the GRFU that has been working in correlation with the GRFU’s Youth Development Programme for the past five years.
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.
The acronym BOOST, stands for Building On Overlooked Sporting Talent, and the exchange programme is designed to lift the development of rugby in Guyana through coaching sessions for schools and youths in and around Georgetown.
The Boost Coaching Academy is associated with Loughborough University, which is a British Sports University located in the UK.
