im coaching the under 6's how do i keep them interested?

Simon JonesCoach, England

Eugene

I have to agree with you that it is challenging to keep young children motivated. The key is to get them to play small sided games and not to get too bogged down in technical coaching. The more opportunity they have to run with the ball the better.

Tag rugby is a great way for the children as young as 5 years to learn to play rugby without being put off by the physical contact. They are used to playing tag games anyway so it is a simple matter for them to adapt to tag rugby. Have a look at Tag Rugby - there are numerous web sites which will give you good information on resources and rules of the game.

I hope this helps you

Simon

Rugby CoachCoach

Keep it simple, and keep it fun. It should be obvious that you have to raise your voice to be heard, but that's not the same as shouting. Younger children have a much shorter attention span, so you'll need to change your games frequently - how frequently is something you'll establish as you get to know the group! Keep it all rugby-based, and use the ball as much as possible, when I've helped with the younger ones the more they've had the ball the happier they've been. Bringing in other coaches is a good technique, too - as long as your message is consistent. The kids seem to enjoy the change, and it stops them getting too used to you and keeps them on their toes and interested. Hope that's of use, Steve.

Martin SlagtCoach, Netherlands

I believe that children should play as many different sports at this young age as possible to develop their sporting abilities. Play all kind of games, but do not focus on rugby alone.

Gary DCoach, Northern Ireland

Hi Eugene, For the last 2 seasons now I have been involved with 4 - 6 year olds and have certainly found it different to the slightly older groups I have dealt with in the past. The major difference has been attention span. Therefore we have kept it fairly simple and focused on basic ball carrying and introducing the concept of passing. As far as team games go we have again kept it to either organised in teams and running shuttle type races or a very simple game of passing a mix between netball and "piggy in the middle".

We have found it difficult to get the concept of teams going opposite ways and passing backwards a very difficult one to get across. We would recommend keeping the games short and when intrest starts waining dont be affraid to change tac.

Hope this is of use :-)