Being Coached

A coach can only do so much, especially if the one being coached is not committed. The adage “you get out what you put in” definitely rings true when you work with a referee coach.

Preparing to work with a coach

Generally, after you’ve gotten your feet wet and some experience under your belt, you as a referee should have some goals or focus areas that you’re trying to accomplish or make progress with regards to comeptency on. These are topics that you should be able to communicate to your coach pre-match. A coach can listen to your goals/focus areas and then tailor the experience to help provide feedback on those areas. Much like setting goals works best using a system like SMART, bringing specificity to a coaching session can help you get the most out of their time.

Even if you aren’t able to bring a goal, narrowing your focus on an area you hope to get feedback on will help the coach know what to focus on as well.

General focus	Specific focus
Positioning	Distance at the breakdown Gap when following play ”Where is best to stand at a lineout?" "Do I look like I should arriving at a tackle?”
Scrum	”Am I getting the right outcomes?” Scrum setup (timing, etc)
Communication	Management chats (if radio’d up) Non-verbal communication Whistle tone

If you know you’ll be working with a coach in person, reach out a few days before hand to have a 5-10 minute chat about the upcoming match. This is the perfect opportunity to discuss what you want to accomplish on the day and how the coach can help you.

On the day

You coach is there to support you, but they can’t referee the game for you. Be sure to connect with the coach before kick off, especially if you haven’t met in person (or otherwise!) before.

Generally, a coach should by and large stay out of your hair. They are there to observe and support, but it’s still your show. Relax and do your thing as you normally would.

Tip

A coach should not try and coach during half time (unless there is something extreme that needs immediate correction!). If you want to chat with them during the break, lead the conversation. Talk about what you think is going well and what you want to accomplish in the second half. They can offer some advice or perspective on those subjects, but they should be there to help give you tools to steer your own ship!

A best practice, when possible, is to have a face-to-face debrief post-match. This might not be feasible because of logistics or, frankly, if you are not in a good place to have a productive talk. Advocate for yourself and what you need at that time. Coaches will have notes/thoughts/etc captured and this conversation can happen on your schedule.

Next steps

After the initial debrief, a coach will fill out a report. The template comes from the Midwest Rugby Referee Society and is the standard for our territory. It will reflect their impressions of your performance, your goals for the match, and some takeaways for you to refelct on for your next go of things. A copy of this report is filed with the Society and sent to you.

Coaches are not evaluating you! While part of their role is assessment, they are there to help you improve! Nothing in the report should be a surprise to you if you’ve had a chance to debrief with the coach. There is a lot in a coaching report that is subjective and different coaches will give different impressions. While we strive for consistency with messaging, etc, it is not guaranteed. If you have questions/concerns about the report, please open a dialogue with the coach. You are entitled to understand the what’s and why’s, even if you may disagree. This should be a healthy and respectful exchange, from both sides.

Remember, they are in the role they are in order to help you grow.