Rugby League Deutschland has become the first governing body to graduate from the coaching section of the Rugby League European Federation Technical Strategy, in partnership with the Leonardo da Vinci Technical Foundation Project. Over the weekend 10 new German coaches attended a Level 1 Coaching Course which was run for the first time by German tutor-candidates in the local language. That enabled the educators to fulfil the third and final phase of the strategy which started last March in London and continued in Belgrade in August.
“The future of German Rugby League now looks very positive, with all the new coaches keen to get out and deliver rugby league in local schools and to players who want to try the game,” said RLEF Coaching Manager Martin Crick. “I was particularly impressed with some of the young players on the course; their knowledge of the game and their enthusiastic delivery should see many more converts to rugby league in the near future.”
Dirk Frase, Uwe Jansen and Markus Leinert ran the two-day course covering such subjects as coaching philosophy and psychology, physiology and the laws of the game - monitored and assessed by Crick - in Heidelberg. “I am very proud because I can see a lot of motivated young lads interested in German rugby league,” said Frase, who will continue his rugby league education in Cologne. “It was great, because I saw such an improvement between Phase 1 and now.”
Three of the new RLD Level 1 coaches, Marco Dörzbacher, Wolfgang Polte and Malte Koppert, will begin coaching the sport to German youngsters, something RLD sees as a significant step in the game’s progression there. Koppert. a school mentor in Karlsruhe, said "the course gave me what I expected: basic knowledge about this great game, and practical learning on the pitich. I´m now encouraged to start in my school, the Helmholtz Gymnasium, a rugby league course...to bring in kids from 14-6 years to the game. I have fallen in love with this great sport and want to support its growthin Germany."
Jansen will now plot the further technical development of the game through the Bundesliga and an increasing youth footprint: “We now feel more confident to educate new coaches; our main target will be youth coaches to ensure we’re growing the game over the year,” he noted.