Rugby: Darrel Shelford hopes to drive coaches

Darrel Shelford will coach the coaches as well as the players this year, as part of a new development role with Central Bay of Plenty (CBOP) rugby.

The former Bay of Plenty representative, who has played and coached professionally around the world, hopes that experience can help him improve the standard of coaching in the region.

Shelford was recently named coach of the CBOP under-13 team for the annual Ellis Shield tournament between Central, Eastern and Western Bay of Plenty JAB sides. In a new initiative, two aspiring junior coaches will have the chance to learn from Shelford as his assistants.

"I said I didn't really want to coach (the team), I would rather be out with coaches," Shelford said. "But it was an opportunity to get two young coaches on board and work with them so I said okay I will lead it."

He said it would be a good opportunity for prospective coaches to learn what coaching was all about.

"A lot of people say it's easy but it's not. You have to have communication skills to get the message across in a certain way. You've got to get down to the kids' level and it has to be enjoyable for them," he said.

Shelford, a director at Rotorua's New Zealand Sports Academy, said the quality of rugby coaching was a big issue right throughout New Zealand.

"Jim Love (fellow academy director) and I have been talking for a while about how we can up-skill coaches and it's come to fruition," he said. "I am going to be accessible to coaches in Central Bay of Plenty to help them with their coaching and give them feedback."

He said he had begun speaking to senior clubs and coaches and hoped to run seminars to find out from the clubs exactly how he could help them.

"I've already been to a few clubs, I'm taking my time getting around them. But they have to be pro-active - if they want my help, they should let me know."

Shelford believes there is "tremendous" talent in CBOP but said all too often, promising players were leaving the region.

"We want to see more Bay of Plenty lads playing in the Steamers. We are trying to get a process back in place to do that," he said. "If we develop better coaches that means better players."

CBOP chairman Ray Watson said it was great to have Shelford involved with the Ellis Shield.

"We see it as succession planning," he said. "He will go out and watch them (assistant coaches) do normal training at their clubs and give them feedback and the approach he wants to take. By the time each assistant coach gets to Ellis Shield they will hit the ground running." Watson said planning had started early this year for the August 5 tournament, with CBOP keen to improve on the results of the last couple of years.

Clubs will soon be asked to nominate JAB players to attend an initial skills station. Players will then be observed during the season with the final trial to be held at the beginning of July.

Watson said all three Ellis Shield coaches - Shelford, Jordan Watson (U11) and Ronnie Towler (U12) - would work closely together to create a strong Ellis Shield contingent.