The Coach Doctor Podcast James Barkell

In this episode I talk with Rama Chand. Rama is the Director of Rugby Development at the Georgian Rugby Union. Previous to that Rama worked in multiple roles with Rugby Australia from Participation Pathway Manager and in Coach Education. He has held coaching roles with the Queensland Reds Super W team and the Queensland Reds Academy and many other teams along the way. He also has a degree in sports studies with the University of Auckland in New Zealand. In the episode we discuss Rama's role in Georgia and the process of moving across the world with a young family, to a country where you do not speak the language. We discuss coaching roles and the importance of understanding your expectations. We also look at the changing role of the coach - both from a pathway or developmental approach and also the changes in the role over the course of time since sport has become more professional.

In this episode, I talk with Amy Shepherd. Amy is the current head coach and football development officer at the Sydney University Soccer Football Club. She is originally from Cambridgeshire England and has experience coaching with Norwich City in their regional development program, Watford FC women’s as well as coaching in New Jersey in the USA. She is now making her mark in Australia working across youth and senior women’s football. We discuss the use of games and constraints based coaching and discuss the importance of individual development plans along with team training. Amy's leadership and experience at the Sydney University Soccer Football Club is highly valued with the club claiming four straight premierships in the senior Womens NPL1 competition between 2018 and 2022 and their youth program being one of the best football programs in Australia feeding into the senior program. They also have qualified for the finals in every youth team in 2023 which speaks volumes for their youth development program.

In this episode I talk with Lee Addison owner of the online coaching website www.rugbyleaguecoach.com.au This website has rapidly become the biggest online rugby league coaching resource in the world! It’s a modern textbook for coaches, players and S&C coaches, with videos and PDFs giving tips and guidance, a bit like a Netflix but for Rugby League. It includes the Aim Higher program which is a clinic roadshow delivering elite level coaching to those most in need. In the conversation Lee discusses his coaching experience, professional development and his work in the online coaching world.

In this episode I speak with Dr Dianne Huxley who is the national performance pathways lead at Athletics Australia. She has a career in coaching and coach development spanning for over 30 years and has experience coaching from the grassroots to the Olympic level in Track and Field. Like many of my guests Di has taken on additional learning despite the experience she already held. We met at the University of Sydney where she completed her Masters in Coaching and subsequently went on to compete a PhD. Her research has focused on elite junior and senior development pathways. For more information or access to her research you can contact Di through LinkedIn under the name Dianne Huxley.

In this episode I speak with Dr Anthea Clarke and Dan Hawke.

Dr Anthea Clarke is a senior lecturer in sport and exercise science at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia. She has an extensive list of publications in sports science with a large number focusing specifically on female athletes. More recently she has developed a short course for coaches of female athletes called “Supporting the Female Athlete” which is a must for any coach of female athletes. Link to the course below:

https://www.latrobe.edu.au/courses/short-courses/supporting-the-female-athlete

Dan Hawke is the former coach of the ACT Brumbies Super W Rugby team, he recently wrote a coaching paper on the challenges of coaching females as a male coach and I was really impressed with his honesty in addressing some really difficult subjects. This conversation addressed questions that coaches may have when coaching female athletes and with the rise of womens sport especially in the football codes it is a very timely conversation.

I am also really excited to announce that Anthea will be speaking at the Business and Development of Women’s Football conference that we will be hosting at the university of Sydney in July August coinciding with the FIFA Women’s Football World Cup. If you are interested in Women’s sport this will be a great event to attend.

For information on this event follow us on LinkedIn: @The Business and Development of Women's Football Conference

For more information on Correct the Internet see: https://www.correcttheinternet.com/

In this episode I speak with Dr Balin Cupples. Balin is the current Head of Performance at the One New Zealand Warriors National Rugby League team. Balin talks about his career moving from a youth development coach into the National Rugby League and the learnings he took along the way. We discuss his background from his Masters of Sports Coaching education to his PhD research at the University of Sydney. We also discuss balancing a career in professional sport with family commitments. Balin gives us his thoughts on what qualities stand out in the head coaches he has worked with over a 9-year career in the NRL.
This episode was recorded late 2022 in the preseason to the 2023 season and since recording the Warriors have gone on to record their best start in the NRL for a long time.