Rugby 4 Peace coaches deliver a session in Ireland

On the 2nd of November, our rugby coaches Tier 2 and 3 (Graham Spacey, Jessica Foster, George Ward, Sean Torrance and supported by Kelly Smith), delivered a training camp in the values-based approach to coaching rugby at Malone RFC in Belfast, to 32 club and community coaches in partnership with Ulster Rugby and funded by a grant from the Northern Ireland Executive.

The training event was part of the programme entitled ‘Inclusive Rugby’which is aimed at twinning secondary and special educational needs schools in order to develop and maintain good relations. David Johnston, Funding Manager for Ulster Rugby, explains that the project runs until March 2017 with the aim of improving relations,trust and respect across the religious divide through a rugby lens.

Ulster Rugby is one of four Provinces within the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU)  that is responsible for the leadership, development and growth of the game within the 9 counties of Ulster.  This includes the full spectrum of Rugby Union from grassroots participation through to the Ulster Rugby Professional team.One of the Ulster coaches said that they “will try to make players learn their responsibilities and to develop their life skills not just rugby skills”. Another local coach commented that they now “have the ability to notice and use values in my rugby sessions.”