Rippa ripper

Better coaches make better players – this was the philosophy behind this week’s Rippa rugby ‘train the trainer’ workshop organised by the Cook Islands Rugby Union.

Cook Islander Chad Tuoro has been taking local coaches from the outer islands and Rarotonga through their paces and arming them with tools to become better coaches. Tuoro, who co-owns Twin Training Academy, a company specialising in rugby development with his twin brother Jared, came to Rarotonga at the request of CIRU to boost the skills of local rugby trainers and coaches.

In total, five outer islands and 30 Rarotonga coaches and trainers took part in the four-day workshop which included theory and practical work.

”Through the workshop the local trainers have learned things from coaching principles, the tools to be better coaches and self evaluation – but developing better coaches to make better players is a key area the Cook Islands Rugby Union are working on,“ says Tuoro.

On Thursday the local trainers applied what they’d learned in the workshop by planning a training session with Avatea Primary Schools yesterday, before evaluating their success with the help of Tuoro. Tuoro, through New Zealand Rugby Union, also provided coaching DVDs and booklets to keep the local coaches motivated. He says that while Cook Islands Rugby Union chief executive officer Ben Koteka did a fantastic job in pulling together the local trainers – it will also be up to him to monitor their progress as coaches.

The final component of the course will be a mini mixed Rippa tournament today at Arorangi field starting at 11am.