Rugby Canada, UBC Thunderbirds host HSBC Rookie Rugby Training Pilot program

March 21, 2022 (Vancouver, BC) - This past weekend saw Rugby Canada piloting a new HSBC Rookie Rugby Training program alongside UBC’s Thunderbirds Women’s Rugby squad, catered towards coaches of U-12 athletes.

The women’s invite-only, National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP) pilot was led by educators Steph Veal and Jackie Tittley, as well as trainer Beth Barz. BC Rugby’s Annabel Kehoe was also in attendance to witness the new pilot project get underway at UBC.

" It was incredible to work with such and engaging group of young women who are already so experienced and knowledgeable, and who truly enjoy working with the kids and giving back to rugby,” said Rugby Canada Manager of Training and Education, Jacqueline Tittley.

The weekend featured a pair of in-person workshops on March 18 and 20th that covered the role of the coach, how to create a positive sport environment and how to plan age and stage appropriate practices.

In addition, the workshop participants had the opportunity to engage directly with HSBC Rookie Rugby resources, available at www.rookierugby.ca, and practice delivering HSBC Rookie Rugby games designed specifically for the program. Sunday’s activities featured mini rugby sessions that UBC athletes routinely engage in on Sunday mornings. These sessions allowed the athletes an opportunity to immediately integrate their learnings from the course into on-field activity.

"This was an exciting step forward in the NCCP approval process for the HSBC Rookie Rugby program,” added Tittley. “I have received really good feedback from the participants and other educators to improve the program and get it ready to roll out nationwide.”

This piloted version of the HSBC Rookie Rugby Training program aims to achieve NCCP approval and align with Rugby Canada’s current educational offerings for coaching—this iteration of HSBC Rookie Rugby Training caters specifically to coaches of U-12 athletes. Following NCCP approval, this course will be rolled out to communities across the country.

Rugby Canada would like to thank BC Rugby for their continued support of this pilot project and the continued development of youth rugby and HSBC Rookie Rugby. Rugby Canada also thanks the University of British Columba for graciously hosting this past weekend’s group of coaches, educators and athletes and UBC Thunderbirds Head Coach Dean Murten for assistance.

For more information on HSBC Rookie Rugby, please visit www.rookierugby.ca.

About Rookie Rugby
Rookie Rugby is a program designed to develop kids' rugby programming at rugby clubs, schools and community organizations. Rugby Canada has prepared a resource specifically to support club coaches, physical educators, and community leaders to introduce the sport to kids in their community. Everything needed is available on the Rookie Rugby website at www.rookierugby.ca.

About Rugby Canada
Rugby Canada is the national governing body of the sport of Rugby Union in Canada. They administer and operate Men’s and Women’s Senior and Junior National programs in both rugby 15s and 7s, as well as govern the Club and community game for more than 30,000 registered participants from coast to coast in conjunction with ten Provincial Union members.

Rugby Canada is headquartered at the Al Charron National Training Centre in Langford, BC, with staff also working from Vancouver, Toronto and Ottawa. Rugby Canada business operations, programs and events are delivered nationwide, including the internationally recognized HSBC Canada Sevens annual tournaments.