Why Play rugby?

Thrilling sport that allows people of all walks of life and capabilities to be challenged, to enjoy the thrill of an exhilarating sport, or being a part of something that can span a lifetime
Rugby is one of the rare collective sports that girls, boys, women and men enjoy together and against each other, with mixed competitions making Touch very popular for every age category
FIT Touch Rugby is a safe, non-contact version of rugby that is a great game itself and is an excellent introduction to other forms of rugby

Foundations of Coaching

Below are the four principles we are going to emphasize as an organization throughout Alexandria Youth Rugby. These principles are meant to help all of our coaches have guidelines for how we coach, what we coach and what we expect out of young athletes.

The end goal is World Class Execution to create a World Class Youth Rugby Club.

Safety – Fun – Fundamentals – Family

Safety – First and foremost, the safety of our young athletes is paramount. This means we practice safe tagging, tackling, safe rucking, safe scrums and above all safe play. This also applies to safety around practice conditions and athletes’ physical conditions (e.g. dehydration, injuries). If we can’t keep our players safe then we won’t earn their trust or their parents’ trust. Safety is key!
Fun – We to keep our ruggers engaged, in tune to what we are teaching and above all keep the sport fun for them. This does not mean sacrificing coaching principles, fundamentals, and discipline (see next one). It does mean being creative and prepared at each and every practice to keep our young athletes engaged and having fun.
Fundamentals – Each and every practice we will focus on drills and skills to make our athletes the best rugby players. We will achieve this by focusing on simple fundamentals that can be emphasized via every drill or scrimmage we do. We want our ruggers to take the skills they learn and turn them into skills they can use in games – from passing to rucking to tackling to tagging. Every practice will have a clear set amount of time spent on fundamentals. Another key element of fundamentals relates to discipline – instilling discipline with our young ruggers (e.g. how to act in a game, how to act toward teammates, no back talking). By being clear about expectations about discipline from day 1 we will ensure better practices, better rugby and stronger young women and men.
Family – The single biggest strength of Alexandria Rugby (or any good rugby club) is the sense of family we create for players and their supporters. This means engaging families from day one, educating parents about the support, encouraging parents to get engaged and above all instilling a culture of support, respect and trust. As coaches if we do this from day one we will have a strong rugby club and great young women and men who come out of our club as well as engaged families we can rely on.

Alexandria Rugby
PO Box 26244
Alexandria, VA 22313

info@alexandriarugby.com