Having read about yet another Neck injury to a school kid (Hottentots Holland) in Somerset West, Are Teachers Qualified to be coaches? Should schools not be forced to have a qualified front row coach?

Kappa
Ek dink onderwysers is nie altyd opgewasse om af te rig nie.  Ek is in ongemaklike posisie dat die onderwyser 'n voorry afhaal en vervang met seun wat flank speel. Die kind het nie clue hoe om te skrum nie en gaan seerkry en het nie die liggaam om stut te speel nie.  Ek wonder of ek hom moet challenge daaroor.

This is exactly what I am talking about, I have personally seen similar things happening.Is a BokSmart course enough? I dont think so....

Until coaches at all levels are required to have the necessary qualifications, wil this problem persist.....
 
as for the Boksmart, it is merely a card - if they implement wat they learnt is another thing - then again - winning is everything to sum, even if it means putting peoples lives at risk!

 All the coaches at school level are supposed to be "Boksmart". I haveattended a few games at Primary School level and seen Ben Theron going around and getting the coaches ID numbers and or Boksmart numbers.

As you say Batts, are they implementing what they learnt???

Maybe something for JP to bring up with Ben on his show.

Boksmart is just a card, it only give you basics but it don't qualify you to be a coach. The problem is most of our teachers are not qualified coaches, they can teach you maybe to pass but the technical part like scrums and line-outs and all of that, they got no clue about it. I attended a game at Wynberg Boys this past weekend and the boys want to engage harder than Super level in the scrums and not one coach or even the referee stopped the game to attend to the problem. Now actions like this ask for serious injury, we need to coach the basics to our kids before we can claim to be good coaches, too me winning at school level is secondary but to some schools it is at all cost.

I dont think that teacher's are equipped. Ive come across boys having to play in positions that they've never ever dreamt of , let alone try. The front row is nobody's joke, at any level.

Checking cards is ok, and thats where it will be left, but I think that responsibility will be left with the school and the Union to work something out. At most model C and private schools, they actually have ex provincial guys helping .. maybe union 'safety reps' need to randomly check up on things ... just a suggestion.

i believe coaching at schoolboy level is improving, but not fast enough

It is my opinion that teachers can potentially be good coaches as that is what they have been trained to do, teaching that is. Coaching however involves an intricate understanding of the subject matter ie Rugby and especially at junior level.

I think it takes a dedicated person to really study the fundamentals of the game and put it over in such a way that the kids grasp fully. Therein lies the problem though. Many teachers might( and I am generalizing here) not have the proper formal qualifications as there knowledge are based on there own experiences of playing the game.

Just as a matter of interest, what is the general qualification level at 1st team club rugby level(specifically SLA/SLB) or what would be an ideal qualification.

I support most of da posts  but you cant say school teachers (eveyone) is not equipt 2 be a good  coach. My club's head coach is a school teacher and is involved in school rugby on a high level?So............

zeldavids, I agree with you, my school coach played Province. But he did not play in THE FRONT ROW. This is where my concern comes in. Maybe it will never happen, but I believe if a school wants to enter rugby teams in a league, their coach should have a qualified front row coach/coach that has played in the front row assisting them.Clubs got these coaches, coaching guys that have 15 years experience playing in that position, how can a 14year old not have that guidance?

I think this is a very topical issue. I belive the school system does produce some quality coaches in the long run, however, in general there are not enough quality coaches/teachers.

The problem is that schools appoint teachers (who they hope will have or gain a passion and better coaching skills over the long term), This is bound to continue forever.

But at strong rugby school's they look at applicants with more balance. You can not expect good teachers to be good coaches also and vice versa. There propably a few that have ability for both. That's just the reality