The Ba Rugby Union (BRU) is focusing on enhancing the skills of coaches, referees, medics, and strength and conditioning staff across the province as part of its development strategy. BRU Secretary Pastor Gaby Katoga highlighted the extensive area they need to cover and mentioned the challenges they face post-COVID in rebuilding from scratch, particularly due to the geographical distance between clubs, which complicates the organization of training clinics.
While the Fiji Rugby Union has been supportive, they also have limitations in their development budget. In 2024, BRU has conducted a week-long series of clinics and is now faced with the need to contribute more financially towards these initiatives.
Upcoming on Monday and Tuesday, BRU, in collaboration with the Fiji Rugby Union, will be running level two coaching clinics for men’s head coaches in the eight tikina (districts) of Ba. Katoga expressed the importance of these clinics, noting that by training the head coaches from the Ba Industries Cup to level two, they can then disseminate this knowledge to women’s and under-19 coaches as well as club teams, thereby creating a pathway for development within the sport.
Looking ahead, if the clinics are successful, Ba Rugby aims to elevate these coaches to level three by 2025, while also encouraging other promising coaches in each tikina to begin their level two training.