Back to the Future

Yesterday evening, I had the pleasure of going back in time.

Not literally, I'm not Doctor Who, although I would love a TARDIS!

Instead, last night I had the great pleasure of coaching a rugby skills session again for the first time in four years. This time, it was for a new girls team which I am a part of building at Wellingborough Rugby Club.

The committee and I had no idea what to expect, how many girls would show up, or what ages of girls would want to join us. But we had faith that, to paraphrase Field of Dreams, "If you run it, they will come."

We had four young ladies join us for our first session, ages ranging from 11 to 16. When they arrived they were all a little unsure, a bit self conscious and generally not sure what to expect.

The last time I ran a rugby training session, I was in full blown superwoman mode, operating from depleted energy reserves and dragging myself to sessions with thoughts of "I'm not good enough" / "What if something goes wrong?" / "I can't come up with anything new to train and I'm SO TIRED!"

The sessions were attended by well meaning ladies, but we were missing a fundamental part of the team which was the culture to support growth. We all believed we needed to perform and be the best, and yet half the players had next to no rugby experience when they started and I didn't have the executive function available to help them.

Last night was different. I went in with a simple plan of whatever happens, whoever shows up, I want them to leave smiling. I wanted them to come along to a supportive atmosphere and feel so comfortable and accepted as they are that they left feeling lighter and more confident.

We played little games which had nothing to do with rugby (1, 2, 3 game anyone?) We got to know each others names and personalities and by the end of the session we were playing a mini game of touch with me making up more and more rules to get them to stretch their comfort zones and they took on everything I threw at them. We ran around, we laughed, we smiled and every one of them enjoyed it and said they were looking forward to next week.

I had an absolute ball and I'm already looking forward to next week which is miles different from me walking away from rugby four years ago, thinking I would never be involved again. It just goes to show that you don't know what the future holds, maybe sometimes it's the past in a new format.

Speaking of new formats, I'm getting ready to offer something new in my business as well! Watch this space over the next few weeks and you'll be the first to know when the offer goes live...

Until next time, Dear Reader x