England Rugby Players Visit Schools Coaching Session

Yesterday, Lions Sports Academy had the privilege of coaching a schools rugby session at Chobham Rugby Club that was attending by three England players. We were given the opportunity by our partners Coco Fuzion 100 to coach 16 u12/u13 students from Ripley Court School & Solefield School. 

The three England players to attend were Brad Shields, Dan Cole & Lewis Ludlum. All three were fantastic and integrated themselves perfectly with kids throughout the day, getting stuck into many of the games & challenges, as well as providing them with some key advice towards their future development. 

There were lots of fun activities throughout the afternoon, that were lead by our coaches, such as Rugby Rounders, Rugby Netball & Rugby Island and these all went down a treat with the kids. A brief Q&A with the England players was followed by a quick game of touch rugby. 

The latter part of the afternoon was where the real fun started. Each of the three England players was designated to a specific coaching station with one of our coaches. Dan Cole was working on scrummaging & body positioning, Brad Shields helped the kids out with their handling & Lewis Ludham worked on line speed, decision making & 1 vs 1 attacking & defending.

There were plenty of smiles and laughs during these session and the England players certainly weren't shy to get stuck in and take on a few of the kids, showing off some of their skills in the process. The most eye-catching of all was probably the ease at which Brad Shields was able to continously flick pass the ball out the back of his hand. Definitely a lot of practice had been done to be able to do that so regularly. 

At the end of the session, the kids were able to get photographs & autographs from the players and thank everyone for helping them out throughout the day. 

It was a fantastic opportunity for us to have been able to coach at events such as this and we want to make a difference in every young persons life and to give them the chance to develop as a person not only physically but mentally and emotionally too. We are hugely passionate on building a child's confidence through sport, by building relationships and offering something engaging and enjoyable we hope to see them grow and be the best version of themselves. The more events, like yesterday, that we are able to coach at the closer we are to achieving our aims and we will not stop until we have managed them.