As part of its development strategy, the Ba Rugby Union (BRU) is focusing on improving the skills of coaches, referees, medical staff, and strength and conditioning professionals across the province.
BRU Secretary Pastor Gaby Katoga acknowledged the challenges, stating, “It’s a big area to cover.” He explained that following the impacts of COVID-19, last year was a fresh start, with clubs dispersed across a wide area, complicating logistics and budget considerations for conducting training clinics.
The Fiji Rugby Union has been helpful in supporting these initiatives but has its own limitations with the development budget. So far, BRU has hosted seven days of clinics this year, but they now need to increase their financial contributions to continue these efforts.
This coming Monday and Tuesday, BRU and the Fiji Rugby Union will hold level two coaching clinics for men’s head coaches in the eight tikina (districts). Katoga expressed hope that if the eight head coaches from the Ba Industries Cup achieve level two certification, they can share their knowledge with women’s and under-19 coaches as well as club teams, establishing a comprehensive coaching pathway.
Looking ahead, Ba Rugby aims to support these coaches in advancing to level three by 2025, while also encouraging promising coaches from each tikina to begin their level two training.