Online workshops across all areas during lockdown

England Touch is committed to developing our sport in all contexts, and we are delivering a wide range of workshops during the next six weeks to upskill our members at all levels of participation.

Touch in England has been growing rapidly over the past few years and our attention is now increasingly on using innovation to supplement the range of expertise within England Touch to develop the sport at all levels, including extending our range of courses online.

We have received numerous requests from individuals who would like to attend courses but who cannot for geographical and travel reasons. Moving large sections of our training courses online, with interactive delivery, will make these workshops and upskilling opportunities much more accessible, more attractive and more participant centred.

Upcoming courses range from training and coaching ideas through to how to grow a club and developing talented junior players.

All of these courses will be delivered via Zoom, with costs at £10 for members and £15 for non-members.

To book log into your membership account via englandtouch.org.uk/membership and click on ‘Events’. Non-members can book via http://bit.ly/eta_events

Bookings close two days before each event.

England Touch will be offering the following CPD workshops:

Foundation Attacking Trends (Perspective: Coach)

Attacking Trends for club and representative touch to promote attacking behaviours and team policy. This workshop will focus on current trends in the game and a diverse range of attacking principles to improve your players, your coaching and your team/clubs performance.

Date: Thursday 30^th April
Time: 17:00-18:15
Presenter: Niall Buggy (England Men’s 45s Head Coach)

Foundation Defensive Principles and Policy (Perspective: Coach)

This workshop will promote crucial attacking behaviours and how this leads to effective team policy. It will highlight current defensive policies and how to implement them in your respective coaching environments.

Date: Friday 1^st May
Time: 17:00-18:15
Presenter: Chris Wall (CSSC Club Coach and England Senior Representative)

Recruiting and Developing Junior Athletes (Perspective: Club, Administrator)

This workshop will focus on how leading clubs have recruited and developed Junior Athletes. You will also hear from coaches on how England Touch have developed and established a Junior High Performance Programme that has taken England to undefeated champions of Europe across all divisions contested at the most recent Junior European Championships.

Date: Tuesday 5^th May
Time: 17:00-18:15
Presenter: Representative of Nottingham Touch Club, Representative from Canterbury Touch Club, Leah Cuthbertson (England Women’s U20s Head Coach)

Creating and Delivering effective training sessions (Perspective: Coach)

Do you want more ideas on how to create variability in your training sessions? Would you like information on how to utilise grids and drills to improve their outcome on player performance in games? Then join us for this workshop that will provide you with pedagogical and practical tips on structuring your training sessions.

Date: Thursday 7^th May
Time: 17:00-18:15
Presenter: Sammie Phillips (England Touch Head of Elite Performance)

Promoting ‘Decision Making’ in Touch (Perspective: Coach, Referee)

This workshop will outline effective training methods to assist you in making ‘better’ and more ‘informed’ decisions on the Touch field. This concept is a difficult one to promote with new and experienced players; we will provide you with some practical tips and a methodical approach on how introduce this with your players. You will also hear from an England Touch referee to outline the importance for players to listen and react to referee communication and advantage provided to make effective decisions on the field.

Date: Tuesday 12^th May
Time: 17:00-18:15
Presenters: Gary Lambert (England Women’s 27s Head Coach), Sammie Phillips (England Touch Head of Elite Performance), Bronwyn Wake (England Touch Referee/Touch World Cup Referee)

‘Succeeding as a Player Coach’ (Perspective: Coach)

The nature of our sport and club structure often means that the ‘player coach’ is unavoidable. This workshop will aim to provide you with plenty of practical tips on how to manage both roles concurrently. Importantly, you will hear from experienced player coaches who will share their experiences in how to be as effective as possible in your role as ‘player coach’.

Date: Thursday 14^th May
Time: 17:00-18:15
Presenter: Benjamin Powell (England Touch High Performance Director/England Women’s Open Head Coach/Cambridge Touch Club Coach), Will Serocold (South East Sharks Women’s Open Regional Coach/London Scorpions Club Coach), Lesley McCallion (Eurostars Head Coach/North East Raiders Mixed Open Coach)

How to approach, understand and coach the new FIT 5^th Edition Playing Rules (Perspective: Player, Coach, Referee)

The recent announcement that England Touch will be adopting the new FIT 5^th Edition Playing Rules is very exciting for improved outcomes and participant experience on the field. This workshop will outline what the changes mean for players, coaches and referees and how to ensure you are adapting to understand and succeed under the new rules.

Date: Monday 18^th May
Time: 19:15-20:15
Presenters: Tim Osborne (England Men’s Open Head Coach), Gareth Hinds (England Touch Referee/Touch World Cup Referee)

Establishing and Growing a successful Touch club (Perspective: Coach, Player)

Are you thinking about starting a Touch club? Have you recently started a Touch club? Are you an established touch club and looking to grow? This workshop is for you! You will hear from a number of clubs and their experience of establishing themselves and growing their clubs effectively. They will provide several practical tips, good practice and a range of models that any type of club will find useful.

Date: Tuesday 19^th May
Time: 17:00-18:15
Presenters: Representative from Nottingham Touch and Representative from Crewe and Nantwich

‘Promoting Women in the Mixed Game’ (Perspective: Coach, Player)

The perceived role of female players in the mixed game can often lead to a lack of enjoyment and a lack of development for female players in this form of the game. It is hugely important that we maintain the mixed nature of our sport as it promotes so many positive things; however, it is key that clubs and coaches understand how to effectively coach and promote women in the mixed environment. This workshop will outline practical tips and pedagogy on how to achieve this in your club.

Date: Thursday 21^st May
Time: 17:00-18:15
Presenters: Benjamin Powell (England Touch High Performance Director/England Women’s Open Head Coach/Cambridge Touch Association Club Coach), Nikki Wise (England Women’s Open Squad Member/Chester Cheetahs Player and Coach), Sadi Musson (England Women’s Open Player/Nottingham Touch Club Coach)

Effective Talent Identification and methods for selection (Participant: Coach)

This workshop is aimed at coaches and anyone involved in Talent Identification and Selection. You will hear from Regional and International Coaches on the processes they use in Talent Identification of athletes and their experience of selection.

Date: Tuesday 26^th May
Time: 17:00-18:15
Presenters: Gary Lambert (England Women’s 27s Head Coach), Andy Pennicard (England Girls 18s Head Coach)

Developing rapport with all participants (Perspective: Player, Coach, Referee)

This workshop is going to explore the different ways in which players, coaches and referees interact within the game. It will give unique insight into the different emotions and processes of each participant and highlight effective forms of communication between all three.

Date: Thursday 28^th May
Time: 18:45-20:00
Presenters: Kylie Hutchison (Most Capped Player for England/England Women’s 35s Player), Chris Simon (England Touch Association CEO/Nottingham Touch Club Coach), Ian Syder (England Touch Level 5 Referee)

Demands of Refereeing Touch and a training guide (Perspective: Referee)

This workshop is designed to provide training recommendations for Touch Referees. Referees are an essential part of the game and you as a referee needs an adequate level of fitness to enable you to keep up with play and be in the right place to make the correct decisions. As well as being physical fit to keep up with play, referees are required to perform a running effort followed by making a quick decision and/or speak with players, therefore it is crucial that you are fit enough to control your breathing rate and take in the necessary information to make a decision. We will discuss Demands of the referee, training recommendations and go through a practical programme to improve performance.

Date: Friday 29^th May
Time: 17:00-18:15
Presenters: Aaron Green (England Touch S&C Lead), Nick Dobbin BSc, MRes, PhD (England Touch Lead Sport Scientist)