Union restructure to benefit all: CEO

FUN AND GAMES: Poverty Bay Rugby Football Union chief executive Josh Willoughby says provincial unions and schools need to work together. File picture

The Poverty Bay rugby community can look forward to a freshly-restructured union that will “ensure we are properly resourced to meet current and future challenges” says chief executive Josh Willoughby.

Willoughby said rugby fans could expect more detailed communication and improved support under the structure, which is already in place.

The structure includes —

Dedicated roles for New Zealand Rugby’s (NZR) direct funding streams – referee education and club and school engagement.Promoting the four pillars of the Poverty Bay Rugby Football Union strategic plan — participation, performance, volunteers and financial sustainability.Increased clarity around game development — recruitment, retention and education of coaches, players and referees.A dedicated arm of the organisation that takes care of administration, competitions, events and finance.Willoughby said the previous structure had a big “on-the-field” focus on developing players and coaches “as we saw fit’’.

“It was difficult to know where some responsibilities started and ended.

“Roles required people to wear too many hats, which meant some areas such as player and coaching development received more attention than others such as club and school engagement and development.

“The new structure allows roles to be more defined and focussed on core business areas such as club and school rugby development, competition management and player, coach and referee development”.

Job titles have been changed to reflect that.

“The new structure focuses on a better understanding of the club and school environment, and supporting ‘‘our rugby community with initiatives and strategies that they want and need,” said Willoughby.

Applications have been advertised for two new roles — competitions manager and game development manager.

The competitions manager will —

Administer all rugby competitions in Poverty Bay.Take over senior and junior rugby administration responsibilities.Monitor and evaluate all player, coach and team eligibility criteria, as well as other rules and regulations for all competitions.The game development manager will be responsible for —

Managing player and coach development programmesDevelopment of a Poverty Bay rugby resource coach network.Development of a Poverty Bay rugby player identification and selection database.Overseeing the appointment of representative coaches and referees.Promoting and implementing initiatives that increase recruitment, retention, training and education of referees.Instigating and progressing training and development resources.Educating players, coaches, media and fans in the laws of the game and the role of the referee.The other positions were a combination of new roles and existing responsibilities.

Willoughby thanked those who had contributed to developing of the new structure

“I look forward to supporting your efforts to create an environment that increases participation, aspires all towards excellence and adds to the proud history of rugby in Poverty Bay.’’