Coaches Corner

The 2^nd VX backline coach, Nick Maurer was given an article when he played for SACS 1^st XV in 1996 (the last 1^st XV side to beat Paarl Gym) and he passed it on to the 2^nd XV yesterday before practice. I would like to share a paragraph from this article.

“ It’s easy to be ordinary or mediocre, but it takes courage to excel, to be different from the crowd. That’s why not many people can do it. The rewards are great, but so are the risks. It takes courage to sacrifice; to work long hours, hard hours. It’s easy to be average, but it’s hard to be the best.”

What awesome motivation to go out there and give it everything. Next time you are feeling like you don’t want to practice or train read those word. Another extract from that article is from Magic Johnson, the legendary basketball player. “Once when I went to the playground, I never picked the best players. I picked guys with less talent, but who had the desire to be great”

To all SACS sportsman – have the desire to be great, to train harder than your opponent, to build desire long before the match starts. And most importantly – decide that you’re going to have fun.

From Barry Van Selm.

Thanks to Ross Williams for this piece. He posed a few challenging questions to Tim Goodenough, who works as a mental coach with the Sharks.

There is an expectation that finals and derby’s are going to be low scoring affairs, regardless of what level you are playing at. Typically they are. Teams play more defensively, and normally the team that manages the pressure better, has the edge. Both teams will normally up the intensity in the way they play, and the players will be more hyped or psyched.The challenge here is that sometimes there is too much hype, too much psych and that extra adrenaline starts to affect muscle co-ordination and the decisions making skills of the players (and sometimes even the coaches).
In any team there will be a group of players that play best when they have a relatively high level of tension, and a group who plays best when there is relatively low level of tension. Many high tension players want the butterflies in the stomach; they want to feel pumped, whereas for many low tension players it is different. They know they are in for a big game, but want to feel relaxed and calm.
The challenge here is that a coach will normally speak to his team in a specific way. If he was high tension, he would normally hype the guys up, “There is no friendship today boys, just winners and losers! We are the winners!” “This is it! This is what our whole season has been about, this one game!” and if he was low tension and wanted to calm the players down he might say, “Boys, we need to do today what we have done all season, don’t worry about who you are playing, when you play your game the results will look after themselves.”
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After a very motivational speech by Prof. Tim Noakes, I spoke to a number of boys who really enjoyed the talk. But how many of them are really going to put what was said into practice? I have seen so many games at SACS where the boys are apprehensive during the 1st half and so will concede tries where they probably shouldn’t have done so.

At the half time talk you hear the boys saying together that “they aren’t that good” and then we go on to win the second half, but lose the game. We need that self belief at the start when the team runs onto the field.  The boys have worked harder this year than I have seen in a long time, and I am talking about all the sides, so it would be good to see some focus on the mental aspect of the game – a winning attitude and also a strong defensive culture being born.

Defend that try line no matter what!

Rondebosch this weekend will always be a good contest – now it is up to the boys to put their last few months of hard work into the game and prove to themselves how well they have trained and to defend their line and use their talents to score some constructive tries and in the end to enjoy this wonderful game.

Rugby is often portrayed as a game for thugs. Some people like to focus only the physical aspect of the game. Fortunately for our SACS players, there are enough enlightened coaches out there who are able to blend the physical, emotional and mental aspects of the game to ensure our players become the complete rugby players they need to be.

I was lucky enough to get the chance to speak with the U16’s today on something similar. I know that earlier our SACS men were addressed by Professor Tim Noakes who covered the importance of the mental side of sport. What a fantastic opportunity for our athletes. On the rugby side of things, I posed a couple of questions to the U16’s.

“Why do you play this game?” And then on the more higher grade level, “Do you play rugby, or does rugby play you?”

The standard response to the first question is, “I love the game.” But what do you love? We need to understand that we as individuals all have different reasons for playing the game. You need to be aware of what that is. If it’s only for winning, you are limiting yourself. If it’s for glory, you may have a selfish outlook on the sport. I believe that when a team can learn to merge their individual reasons for playing the game into one common reason, they will be more successful. At SACS I believe that reason should include playing for the love of the school. If we allow individuals to play for selfish reasons, they will no longer care for their team mates, or for their team colours.

The second question was more tricky. The reason I ask it, is that we have a misguided view that we own rugby. The truth is, rugby owns us. The game is bigger than any one individual, and in fact, players make up only one piece of the bigger rugby puzzle. So when I say, rugby plays you. It means, the game is using you to show itself off to the world. When you can respect the game at such a level that you feel honoured to play it you are experiencing the game in a more pure form. The game consists of many things. The ref, the field, the weather, the opponents etc. You need to respect every element. Just ask the SHARKS!! They didnt respect the Cheetahs last week and paid the price.

So in a nutshell. Rugby is a thinking person’s game. The more aware you are, the better you will perform. Physicality is essential, but awareness of yourself, and how you fit into the game is critical. Being more aware will allow you to make quicker and better decisions on the field. By respecting the game, you will no longer fear losing, or feel intimidated by opponents. You will be playing for the right reasons. For the love of your school and this amazing game!

Never has SACS had such a formidable coaching Staff. SACS players will be exposed to excellent coaching and conditioning. I am sure not many schools can match these resources and expertise.  

1st XV – Rian Van Der Westhuizen

Playing career –  Strand High School (1st XV), Strand Somerset West RFC 1st XV, WP Defence RFC 1st XV, WP U20, WP Clubs U21.
Coaching Career – Milnerton High school 1st XV, Gardens Tech RFC U21 Super League, WP U21 Clubs WP U21 Protea Academic, WP U21, SASSU, SACS 1st XV, Craven Week Southern Regional and Selector for WP U21 and SA Technikons. Continue