All stakeholders in rugby would be consulted prior to the finalization of a blueprint for Ghana Rugby, President of the Ghana Rugby Football Union (GRFU), Mr. Herbert Mensah has announced.

According to Mr. Mensah the new Board that was elected on 5th June 2014 has been undertaking an assessment of the state of rugby in Ghana and, as part of this assessment, has found that many stakeholders have in the past been excluded from charting a development roadmap for rugby in Ghana.

“The Rugby Family in Ghana include stakeholders on various levels including players, coaching or technical staff, referees, administrators, regional associations, clubs, the educational system, sports bodies such as the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MoYS), National Sports Authority (NSA), Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) as well as current and potential sponsors and in general everybody who regards him or herself as a ‘Friend’ of Ghana Rugby”, Mr. Mensah said.

He further stated, “For Ghana to excel and perform at international level it is essential that all stakeholders are involved in and buy into the strategies and plans of the GRFU. Rugby is not about the GRFU, but about the Rugby Family that even includes the parents of the young kids who want to embrace Rugby as means of entertainment and development.”

He assured that detail on the Rugby Stakeholder Forum will be announced soon on the GRFU website www.ghanarugby.org where stakeholders can register for the Forum.

The forum is coming on the heels of a two week Rugby coaching exercise conducted by the International Rugby Board (IRB) qualified coach Mr. David Dobela that was completed successfully in Accra, Ghana on Friday 25 July 2014.

The programme was organised by the Ghana Rugby Football Union (GRFU) in association with the IRB and the Olympic Solidarity Fund (OSF) to improve the quality of rugby coaching in the country.

Mr. David Dobela is currently the Caretaker Head Coach of Border Academy in South Africa and has qualified as Level 2 Coaching Trainer in 2010. He has also been involved in coaching for the South African National Team, the Springboks.

During the first week 23 coaches were trained on Level 1 coaching. The trainees included coaches from the 11 clubs that will take part in the 2014 /15 national league tournament, as well as Sportsmasters of 12 schools from the Greater Accra, Western and Central Regions.

The Level 1 Rugby Coaching Training included modules on Understanding the Game and the principles of play, Applying the principles of play to the development of skills, Planning and demonstrating a practice and Management and will cover both 15s as 7s coaching skills.

The course is designed to enable coaches to acquire basic skills so that players new to the game learn to play in safe, enjoyable competition.

During the second week a Level 2 Coaching course was held that included modules on Coaching styles and coaching process, Values of the Game and principles of attack and defence, Planning and delivery, Key factor analysis and player welfare and Functional role analysis, selection and Laws.

The Level 2 Coaching course is designed to provide coaches with the skills needed to coach teenage and adult players in the club or school environment (in major Unions) and to higher levels in less developed Unions such as the GRFU.