Merging rugby skills and life skills is part of a new rugby coaching style to ensure the welfare of rugby players (girls and boys) aged 10-14 years of age in the western and central division of Fiji.

The new Get Into Rugby (GIR) PLUS training initiative was held earlier this month and attended by highly skilled male and female coaches at Nausori District School (Central Division) and the Tanoa Skylodge in Nadi (Western Division).

The initiative supports equal and safe rugby participation for girls and boys, while building coaches skills needed to effectively deal with life challenges such as peer pressure, resolving conflict, relationships and where to get support.

GIR PLUS Coach and teacher at St Joseph the Worker Primary School, Kitiana Kaitu said “I’m not just a rugby coach but also an advocate for those who cannot voice their opinion. I love that I’m working together with others for the future of the nation.”

The training initiative upskilled coaches in strengthening, conditioning, and safeguarding to ensure all young people are safe from harm when involved in rugby clubs, programmes and activities. Integrating safeguarding principles into training and coaching practices, helps to ensure all young people participating in sport have a positive experience.

Kitiana said she had already done some GIR PLUS training previously “but the strength and conditioning training really enlightened me to why we do the things we do in a training session”.

“The Safeguarding reinforced the importance on focussing on child welfare – physical and emotional, when we coach.”

The coaches will embed life skills into rugby practice to encourage girls and boys to uphold the values as players on the field and in their personal lives, as part of a long-term approach to shifting attitudes and beliefs around gender, power, violence and respectful relationships.

Get Into Rugby PLUS is co-funded by Oceania Rugby, through Rugby Australia, the Australian Government’s Pacific Sports Partnership (PSP), UN Women Fiji MCO through the EUR19.5m regional Pacific Partnership to End Violence Against Women and Girls (Pacific Partnership) which is funded by the European Union and Australian Government with support from UN Women.

The curriculum component of GIR PLUS is adapted to the Pacific from the ChildFund Pass It Back sport for development programme and is being implemented with support from the Fiji Rugby Union (FRU).