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The four-year coach education program, developed in collaboration with the North America West Indies Rugby Association (NAWIRA), will further boost the level of Sevens in two of the six Commonwealth regions in the build up to the Delhi 2010 and Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Canada and the USA have traditionally dominated competitions between countries in NAWIRA but with Sevens increasingly gaining ground in new markets around the world, many non-traditional rugby nations are focusing on developing the high-octane, crowd-pulling form of the game.
Nations such as Trinidad & Tobago, the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands have lately been further encouraged by Sevens’ inclusion in the Pan American Games and the campaign for Olympic Games re-inclusion to make their mark in a sport which bases much of its appeal on its genuine competitiveness between nations from around the world.
“This is a very exciting time for rugby Sevens with many of our unions investing in dedicated Sevens development programs. This initiative with the CGF is a timely boost for rugby as we look ahead to another exciting Commonwealth Games in Delhi next year and the outcome of our Olympic campaign,” said IRB chairman Bernard Lapasset.
“The IRB invests over US$5 million annually in NAWIRA member unions through individual union development and High Performance grants, regional tournament support and administration grants. However, we believe that a specific need exists to boost competitiveness in Sevens and the new tailored rugby Sevens coach education program is designed to contribute to achieving that aim."
“In the longer term, we hope to see more teams from these two Commonwealth regions in a better position to compete and challenge for medals in future Commonwealth Games.”
The coaching program will begin in 2010 with a three-day training course that will be available to all NAWIRA Commonwealth member national coaches.
This will be followed by a series of courses in 2011 targeted to member countries whose performances indicate that they have the potential to qualify for future Commonwealth Games.
An additional course is planned for 2012 and in 2013, member coaches that were not targeted in 2011 will receive further education and mentoring in their country.
“The CGF has signed up to this initiative to strengthen its relationship with International Sports Federations and support a number of targeted regional development programs in the build up to the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow 2014,” said Commonwealth Games Federation Chief Executive Mike Hooper.
