|
I have a deep respect for all my players, and while I try to be as polite and cordial as possible, you’ve just got to stop sugar coating things and give it to them straight.
Sometimes you are right and sometimes your wrong; experience will help you minimize the times you are wrong, but if you believe in what you are saying then you’ve just got to say it.
For me, the past couple of weeks is just one of those times.
But this time it’s not my players, whom I’m quite happy with right now, that I’m directing my straight talking at. Talk on podcasts and articles on the internet of top down, bottom up, age grade cuts, players getting contracts abroad, board elections and fund-raising for our All-Americans tour of England have seen my increased blood pressure rise another notch or two.
It’s no secret that I’m a proponent of youth development – getting kids playing rugby in school as early as possible has got to be the No1 priority for all of us. So yes, a bottom up approach.
I would also like to see USA Rugby make a concerted effort to get more of our top young players into professional clubs abroad. Argentina has 300 – if we got a third of that, I think we would improve our world ranking vastly.
It was great to see Mike Petri and Shaun Pittman joining the too few Americans now playing the game abroad professionally. I would love to think that these contracts were gained through efforts from USA Rugby on their behalf and the result of a policy to get our brightest and best playing abroad.
But it is my understanding that both these players got their contracts themselves and with huge help from either their club or national team assistant coaches.
One of the main problems is getting our players exposure and getting them this exposure at the right time in their lives. Before a bright young prospect gets dragged into the real world and gets a job, we should be trying to see if we could get that player transitioned from college into the professional game.
This year’s All-American tour is just the kind of exposure I’m talking about – two of the games are against professional academy teams, culminating in a match at Welford Road – fantastic! I consider it a massive opportunity and tool for both the game in this country and everyone involved in the tour.
So as you can imagine, I was horrified to hear that we are still scrounging around for money. Asking for donations and carrying out fundraising events. Plainly said, it is simply quite pathetic and just another example of where our priorities lie.
Raising funds is surely the job of our board, and the paid staff at USA Rugby? On paper at least, the members of our board have great credentials. But sadly, it has very little to show for the years it has been in control of our game.
The All-American program should be fully funded; it is simply too important to be ignored. If this board cannot use its collective clout to raise the sponsorship deals through its obvious contacts and sphere of influence, then they should stand aside and let people in who can.
Developments at the collegiate level have shown what happens when there is a little smell of rebellion in the air.
The USCRA may not have been perfect, but its formation has brought about change. The appointment of a collegiate director and a collegiate committee with the right people on it are results of this.
The winds of change have also brought about the premier league and a complete re-structure of collegiate competitions.
Perhaps what is needed is a little more rebellion? Ironically, the incompetence of the board in not being able to get better financial deals for USA Rugby means that it is dependent on CIPP dues from players, coaches and clubs.
Now I don’t see myself as the tea-party type, but maybe the only way we’ll get any change at the top is by throwing a tea crate or two into the rugby harbor!
