IRFU Coaching Courses and Qualification Compliance

Coach Ger Slattery talks to Conor O'Shaughnessy Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Laszlo Geczo
As we move towards the summer more coaching courses will be available at all levels of the game so some of the key questions are, what do I need to do to coach with my team next season, what does ‘qualified’ mean, and where can I do those courses?
The graphic below is a simple guide to having the correct coaching qualification at your level, it has a simple explanation between ‘compliant’ and ‘qualified’ and what it means to be ‘safeguarding approved.’
Compliant – Safeguarding approved (when working with age grade players) and appropriate coaching award.
Qualified – Safeguarding approved (when working with age grade players) and appropriate coaching award and active coach badge
Safeguarding Approved – If you have the Vetting and Safeguarding 1 (SG1) qualification in your RugbyConnect, you are Safeguarding Approved, which is a prerequisite for some coaching courses.
Active Coach Badge – Annual badge which records attendance (either in person or online) at a recognised CPD event.
National Coach Development Manager Jamie Turkington added,
“We want our clubs and schools to be the best environments for our players, match officials and coaches so we would encourage people to go along this journey to qualification to play an active role in this. As a further benefit to gaining Qualification, clubs each season receive grants based on the amount of coaches at appropriate levels throughout the club”
Details of upcoming coaching courses can be found here