Western and Central division coaches merge rugby and life skills for youth players

Girl and boy rugby players aged 10-14 years in the western and central divisions of Fiji, will benefit from new coaching approaches as a result of ongoing Get Into Rugby PLUS training that includes both rugby skills and life skills to deal with everyday life.

“It’s an honour and a privilege to be a Get into Rugby PLUS coach,” says Kitiana Kaitu, Teacher at St Joseph the Worker Primary School and Get into Rugby PLUS Coach.

“I’m not just a rugby coach but also an advocate for those who cannot voice their opinion. I love that I’m working together with others for the future of the nation,” Ms Kaitu said.

Get Into Rugby PLUS is co-funded by Oceania Rugby, through Rugby Australia and the Australian Government’s Pacific Sports Partnership (PSP), and also by UN Women Fiji MCO, through the EUR19.5m regional Pacific Partnership to End Violence Against Women and Girls (Pacific Partnership) funded by the European Union and Australian Government with support from UN Women.

The curriculum component of GIR PLUS is adapted to the Pacific from the ChildFund Pass It Back sport for development programme and is being implemented with support from the Fiji Rugby Union (FRU).

Through the new Get Into Rugby PLUS initiative, highly skilled coaches are learning new ways to support equal and safe rugby participation for girls and boys, whilst building their skills needed to effectively deal with the challenges of life such as peer pressure, resolving conflict, relationships and where to get support.

The most recent training was held early April to upskill coaches in strengthening, conditioning and safeguarding. Safeguarding is a commitment to guaranteeing the safety and wellbeing of all young people and vulnerable persons within an organisation.

In rugby this means coaches take action to ensure all young people are safe from harm when involved in rugby clubs, programmes and activities. Integrating safeguarding principles into training and coaching practices helps to ensure all young people participating in sport have a positive experience.

“I’d done some Get into Rugby PLUS training before, but the strength and conditioning training really enlightened me to why we do the things we do in a training session. The Safeguarding reinforced the importance on focusing on child welfare – physical and emotional, when we coach,” Ms Kaitu said.

The Get Into Rugby PLUS programme includes male and female coaches who embed life skill sessions into rugby practice for boys and girls who are encouraged to uphold the values of as players on the field and in their personal life, as part of a long-term approach to shifting attitudes and beliefs around gender, power, violence and respectful relationships.

The conditioning, strengthening and safeguarding training was held early this month for the Central Division at Nausori District School and the Western Division at the Tanoa Skylodge in Nadi, ending on 16 April.