Jake takes coaches back to school
Two World Cup winners, John Smit and Jake White, headlined a recent Sharks coaching conference at Kings Park, with White delivering the most telling message.
The coaching conference involved schoolboy, community and club coaches from around the province.
While John Smit, the current Sharks CEO, opened the day, White, the Director of Rugby, reminded those eager 'learners' that he was once also a school coach.
"As a school coach, I also sat in the stands with ambitions of coaching at a higher level," he told the gathering.
"I attended these coaching courses, and one thing I want to share with you is to just keep going.
"These coaching courses are so important, you never stop learning. What works for us potentially may not work for others, but things we do can be used or adapted. Some of the best coaches in the world – and it's a fact – started coaching at school level.
"I've been lucky to coach overseas [the Brumbies in Australia] and one thing I can say is that here in South Africa we have a massive school system and we must never take that for granted.
"What I hope you get out of this is not gimmicks or tricks, but sharing with you what we are doing here. This is how we would train if you weren't here."
He admitted that nothing in the training session they were doing would be mind-blowing, but to be taken in context as a training run in the first week back after the Christmas break is very different from what they did in December and different from what they will be doing in a month's time.
The Sharks start their campaign when they face the Bulls on Saturday, February 15 in Durban.
