Hi Reader

Welcome to the December edition of the Coach Lead Collective, your go-to resource for coaching leaders like you, dedicated to supporting and developing our coaching community.

It’s been a huge month for The Coaching Gig! Momentum for the coaching app is building, with that vast majority of Provincial Rugby Unions jumping on board for 2025. Plus, a big shout-out to Netball Manawatu, the first Netball Centre to partner with us—woop woop!

We’ve been flat out filming new secondary school content in collaboration with New Zealand Rugby, which will appear on the app, plus we powered through two jam-packed days capturing netball content. It’s been a big shift, but also a whole lot of fun. Most importantly, we know this will make life easier for volunteer, time-poor coaches everywhere. Everything’s on track to launch the updates early 2025.

In this month’s newsletter, we tackle the challenge of balancing our own personal coaching fix with the demands of developing coaches. Plus, we explore how to be smarter with our time by aligning coach development with pre-existing activities.

A Common Dilemma: Juggling Coaching and Coach Development

If you’re like me, you likely got involved in coach development because of your love for coaching. But working in coach development often means fewer opportunities to actually coach—and when you do, it can feel like a massive juggling act.

Coaching senior secondary school and adult teams is all-consuming. Between the endless WhatsApp notifications, hours of video analysis, planning sessions, and constant back-and-forth with players, it’s relentless. And that sheer time and energy demand inevitably impacts your ability to support community coaches.

Coaching requires tunnel vision—your focus is your team, your season, your outcomes. Coach development, on the other hand, needs a wide lens—focusing on systems, networks, and supporting others to succeed. From experience, trying to do both simultaneously usually leads to coaching taking priority over the developer role.

When I was coaching Premier Men’s club rugby or the Volcanix (albeit I was not in an employed coach development role), I had the best intentions of helping coaches in feeder programs. But honestly? I couldn’t find the time. I was too busy sorting out the team defense, player selections, or training plans to give them a second thought. Pretty bad, eh?

So, is there a smart solution?

I think so. You can still get your coaching fix and stay sharp, but it’s about being intentional with appropriate windows, like representative seasons or post-season tournaments. These periods are shorter, more intense, and don’t overlap as much with community coaching commitments.

It’s a win-win: you stay relevant in the coaching world while giving the coaching community the full attention and support they deserve when it matters most.

Aligning With Current Activity: Smarter Not Harder

Coach development initiatives, like workshops and conferences, are often the go to, yet, some data suggests less than 3% of coaches actually attend these opportunities. So, is there a better way? I’m all about working smarter, not harder, and aligning development with existing activity can be a high-impact, easy-to-implement approach that can make a real difference.

One of the best examples I’ve been part of was the Steamers In-House Days during my time at Bay of Plenty Rugby. We invited aspirational coaches—Level 2, Level 3, rep coaches, premier, and 1st XV coaches—to spend a day immersed in the semi-professional NPC programme. They got a fly-on-the-wall experience: sitting in on team meetings, reviewing sessions, observing fieldwork, and engaging in Q&A with Clayton McMillan (then Steamers Head Coach, now Chiefs and All Blacks XV coach) and his assistant coaches.

To keep it meaningful, we capped each day at 12 coaches and offered three days during the season. Demand was off the charts—every spot was booked out within 12 hours! Coaches were buzzing at the chance to see how a professional environment operates up close.

For me, the magic was in its simplicity. I coordinated with Clayton, communicated with the visiting coaches, sorted food (hot chicken buns for the win), and facilitated conversations throughout the day. The feedback was hugely positive. Coaches left with insights into the intensity and detail required at the higher level, practical gems to apply to their own teams, and enhanced relationships within the rugby community.

I’ve also seen this approach work brilliantly in Netball. Around 70 coaches turned up to observe the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic training environment. Silver Ferns Head Coach Noeline Taurua, who was there working with the Magic, stayed behind for a Q&A session. Normally, Level 1 and 2 courses would attract just 6–10 coaches—but aligning the development opportunity with the Magic’s training drew a crowd.

The takeaway? Be smart with your time. Integrating coach development into existing activities not only maximizes impact but also respects the busy lives of coaches.

And let’s face it, who wouldn’t trade a stuffy classroom for a sideline seat and a hot chicken bun?