Every week young children are hospitalized on the playing fields of Britain. Yet this data is never collected, nor is there any concerted attempt to work out how to make sport safer. Using meticulous, peer-reviewed research, the book sets out the true risks associated with the sport, raising uncomfortable questions for politicians and the educational authorities. Would parents be so willing to let their children play rugby if they knew that the average risk of serious injury over the course of a season could be at least 17 percent, or nearly one in six?
Foreword by Sir Clive Woodward. Anxious about coaching rugby to children? Maybe you're already coaching, but sometimes struggle to get your points across to your players? Perhaps you find yourself frequently running out of preparation time or think your sessions are becoming dull? Coaching Rugby is Dan Cottrell's best-selling manual created for new and aspiring coaches of junior players. It is designed to help you build your players' techniques, skills and understanding of the whole game from ages 8 to 16, to give them the best start possible to their rugby playing career. Divided into two parts, part one focuses on the basics of working with young players in a safe and rewarding environment. Part two contains more than 100 training sessions, games and developments to coach and enhance all the basic skills of rugby union.
With more than 20 years of coaching and teaching experience, UK authors Anthony Dowson and Keith Morris have realized that children's encounters with sporting activities need to be creative, entertaining and fun. Children can be encouraged to engage in physical activity through fun games that stimulate both body and mind. Fun games keep children healthy and active now as well as contribute to a more positive attitude towards physical activity for life. In response to numerous requests from teachers and coaches, the authors have developed and adapted an array of activities and games from their own everyday use when teaching children. The book contains a range of warm-up ideas, games, skill practices and sport-specific activities to motivate children and encourage active participation. The games use only common sport equipment and are supported by easy-to-follow instructions and illustrations. Useful in both planning and providing physical education lessons and recreational experiences, this book makes it easy to create a varied and exciting program. The text includes more than 30 multi-sport games suitable for children of ages 5 to 16. There are sport-specific games for cricket, striking and fielding, rugby, soccer, tennis, badminton and hockey, as well as parachute games. All activities are designed to improve children's skills in specific sports through the use of enjoyable games to promote learning. Each game offers multiple variations designed to suit a wide range of ages and abilities. With childhood obesity becoming increasingly common, children's physical activity is becoming more important. Healthy, active young people now mean a future generation of adults less affected by the health problems associated with obesity and inactive lifestyles. Anyone who has the responsibility of organizing activities for young people will find the ideas in Fun and Games invaluable. Through the practical games in this book, children will develop new skills as they participate in fun and enjoyable activities.
The Science of Rugby is the only book to examine the scientific principles underpinning the preparation of rugby players for high performance. Drawing on the very latest scientific evidence, and covering both codes (union and league), the book explores every aspect of preparation and performance that introduces best practice by leading coaches and sports science professionals from around the rugby world. The book covers key topics such as: Physical preparation and conditioning Strength and power training Monitoring match and training demands Match-day strategies for enhancing physical and technical performance Management of fatigue and recovery Training and playing in the heat Travel and jet lag Injury epidemiology Psychological preparation Performance analysis Biomechanics Nutrition Talent identification and youth development The book also incorporates several case-studies to demonstrate how scientific principles have been applied in practice. No other book bridges the gap between theory and applied practice in rugby, from grass roots to elite international standard, and therefore this is essential reading for any student, researcher, sport scientist, coach, physiotherapist or clinician with an interest in the game.
The e-book for More Fun and Games is available at a reduced price. It allows you to highlight, take notes, and easily use all the material in the book in seconds. The e-book is delivered through Adobe Digital Editions® and when purchased through the Human Kinetics site, access to the content is immediately granted when your order is received. Anthony Dowson is back with More Fun and Games. The book he coauthored in 2005, Fun and Games, was a big hit with teachers, coaches, and all activity leaders who work with kids. Dowson’s new book continues the premise from the first book—that children’s physical activity games need to be fun and creative as well as developmentally sound. But Dowson doesn’t stop there. For each of the 100 new games this expert physical education teacher and coach offers, he adds a pop-out box that notes the skills and fitness components the game will help kids develop. More Fun and Games covers warm-up, cool-down, and multisport games, as well as games for the following sports: soccer, cricket, basketball, tennis, netball, rugby, volleyball, badminton, and hockey. Each game includes information on equipment required, rules, and coaching advice. The games are easy to set up, require minimal equipment, and come with suggestions for adapting the games to suit not only the size of your group but also the skill level. And you can easily find the right game for your group by using the game finder section. These entertaining games and activities maximize participation while developing key skills, such as decision making, teamwork, attacking, and defending. By developing the technical skills they need in order to succeed in sports, kids will also develop greater self-confidence and enjoy their sport participation all the more. The games are crafted to help the kids stay focused, remain active, and have fun. The result is that they develop not only their motor skills and sport-specific skills but also positive attitudes toward physical activity. They’ll have loads of fun with these games and want to come back for more, and they’ll be on their way to establishing lifelong physical activity habits through More Fun and Games. Adobe Digital Editions® System Requirements Windows Microsoft® Windows® 2000 with Service Pack 4, Windows XP with Service Pack 2, or Windows Vista® (Home Basic 32-bit and Business 64-bit editions supported)Intel® Pentium® 500MHz processor128MB of RAM800x600 monitor resolution Mac PowerPC Mac OS X v10.4.10 or v10.5 PowerPC® G4 or G5 500MHz processor128MB of RAM Intel® Mac OS X v10.4.10 or v10.5500MHz processor128MB of RAM Supported browsers and Adobe Flash versions Windows Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 or 7, Mozilla Firefox 2 Adobe Flash® Player 7, 8, or 9 (Windows Vista requires Flash 9.0.28 to address a known bug) Mac Apple Safari 2.0.4, Mozilla Firefox 2 Adobe Flash Player 8 or 9 Supported devicesSony® Reader PRS-505 Language versions English French German Audience: Reference for physical education teachers, primary school teachers, children’s activity leaders, and sport coaches.
Written by a successful businessman, father, and high school coach with nearly twenty years of experience playing and coaching football, Tackling Dummies provides both an objective and insiders look at the game and identifies key problems with the sport and culture of amateur football. Both technical and common sense solutions are provided in a simple and easy-to-understand way, which will help both players and coaches perform better, play safer, and have more fun. With real and often hilarious football stories told from the author's perspective, descriptions and photos of safer and more effective tackling techniques, recommended alternatives to early youth football, suggested changes to the rules of the game, honest insights into college and NFL "careers", and comprehensive college football program listings, this book is a must-have for any football fan, player, coach, or parent.
Jonny Wilkinson's impact on global sport has been extraordinary. Yet Jonny has faced a battle all his life to achieve success and, crucially, happiness. A crippling fear of failure, the targets he set himself and a string of injuries have caused Jonny to question his attitude to life. In this startling new book, writing with Steve Black, Jonny opens up for the very first time, revealing his darkest moments and explaining in a practical way the steps and techniques he has taken to ensure success in all aspects of his life. He still wants to be the best, but he now enjoys the journey. With never-before-told stories from his life and rugby career, this book will act as a powerful inspiration for anyone wanting to bring to the field of play - be it business, personal or sport - the very best they have to offer.
The Young Rugby Player: Science and Application provides a comprehensive and accessible overview of the recent research behind the preparation, development and performance of the young rugby player. Each chapter concludes with key take-home messages and practical applications demonstrating how practitioners can provide evidence-informed delivery with the young rugby athlete. The book highlights how research and science can inform practice including coaching, sport science, player development and performance with the young rugby player. Each author is a world leader within their respective discipline including academics and practitioners who research and practice across youth rugby. The book includes chapters on: • Introducing the young rugby player, including topics related to growth and maturation, talent identification and development and understanding the demands of youth rugby. • Understanding and developing the young rugby player, including topics related to physical, psycho-social, technical and tactical development, alongside training practices and fatigue and recovery. • Other hot topics including nutrition, injury, concussion and injury prevention and the female young rugby player. This text is vital reading for all coaches, sport scientists, strength and conditioning coaches and all academics with an interest in the science and practical application of working with the young rugby player.
A footballer dies of dementia, younger than he should. A teenage rugby player plays on through multiple blows - and never wakes up from the last one. A scientist reveals endemic brain disease in NFL players and is discredited. From the gladiator arenas of history to the rugby pitches of today, athletes have always forfeited their bodies for sport, with grievous bodily contact consistently celebrated as the ultimate performance of toughness and masculinity. But at what cost? This is the story of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) - a degenerative brain disease caused by repeated blows to the head, and whose impact in the sporting world is only now coming to light. A Delicate Game is a searing investigation that explores the truth about brain injury in sport and beyond it, from the social dynamics that send young men into violent and dangerous pursuits, to the scientists searching for truth and the families living with the consequences - and it will change the way you think about sport forever. 'Beautifully written, deeply moving and absolutely mind-blowing' Julia Ebner 'A clarion call of great conviction and urgency' Irish Examiner
A coaching legend shares techniques, philosophies, and team-building exercises applicable beyond the playing field In 1979, when Bob Ladouceur took over the head football coaching job at De La Salle high school, the program had never once had a winning season. By the time he stepped down in 2013 and after posting an unprecedented 399–25–3 record, De La Salle was regarded as one of the great dynasties in the history of high school football. In When the Game Stands Tall: Coaches' Playbook, Ladouceur shares, for the first time, the coaching philosophies he employed at De La Salle. Far more than a book on the Xs and Os of football, this resource focuses on how Ladouceur created a culture based on accountability, work ethic, humility, and commitment that made his teams greater than the sum of their parts. This book not only include details on the nuances of the game and the techniques that made the Spartans the most celebrated high school football team in history, it also has chapters on creating what Ladouceur calls an "authentic team experience," which include lessons as valuable in a board room as in a locker room.
