Freemen's Hosts Harlequins Rugby Day

Despite the wet weather on Monday 12 March, Freemen’s hosted a Rugby Day with the support of Harlequins Academy for four schools from the local area. We were very fortunate to have Jim Evans, the Harlequins Academy Coach, as well as Gary Street, Harlequins Ladies’ Head Coach, along with our own Michael Cudmore, former Head Coach of Ealing Trailfinders, and Peter McKee former Hong Kong International assisting on the day.

The focus of the day was on coaching the core skills of CARDS – Creativity, Awareness, Resilience, Decision-making and Self-organisation. The pupils made their way around six coaching clinics including tackling safety; types of kick; decision making and contesting possession. The pupils from Ashcombe, Howard, Glyn, Therfield and Hinchley Wood schools were then all treated to a BBQ lunch alongside Freemen’s pupils before having a round-robin of short sided games in the afternoon.

The objective of the morning was to develop and improve fundamental skills before trying to put those newly acquired skills into practise in a mini-game format in the afternoon. Furthermore, this day was not only a chance to improve rugby skills but was also an important part of our Outreach programme to provide opportunities for pupils in the surrounding area. Pupils were able to access higher level coaching and facilities whilst allowing Harlequins to see a larger audience of potential players – an enjoyable day for all involved!