Development Manager for the European Rugby League (ERL), Martin Crick says that the key priority is to help develop the Nigerian Rugby League through Level 1 and 2 training for coaches and referees in the country.
In an exclusive chat with TheGuardian on Friday, the rugby coach described the ongoing level 1&2 Coaching and education course/ Referee level 1&2 course as the right step in the right direction, adding that Nigeria needs to develop its coaches to stand a good chance of moving from associate member of World Rugby League into a full member of the body.
“I am in Nigeria to help develop coaches and improve coaches below them via the Level 1 and Level 2 Courses. The last time I came to Nigeria, we had a Level 1 Course, but this time, we are doing an advanced course for the coaches. We aim to help spread the game in Nigeria. We need more players, and to get more players you need more coaches
Level 1 and 2
“Nigeria hopes to become a full member of the International Rugby League but at the moment, it’s just an associate member and to do that you have to have a certain of qualified coaches and referees, then you get all your grants which would help you develop the game tremendously so it is important to get coaches and referees accredited,” he said.
Crick then charged Nigeria to borrow a leaf from England where rugby is introduced to children right from the age of 6 rather than wait to be 20 before embracing the game. He added that Nigerian coaches stand a good chance to ply their trade abroad if they improve their coaching skills.
“Well, if the coaches improve their coaching, they will have the chance to coach with the Nigerian national team for example. If they move to another country and show that they are good, they can coach in those countries as well and opportunities will open up for them. But at the moment the key priority is to try and help develop the Nigeria Rugby League, we need more players and more clubs.
We’ve got men and women but we also need to work with children and develop them to play rugby at young age because the difference between here and England is that in England, you start playing rugby at 6 years old and by the time they are 10 you already have ten years of rugby knowledge, But if you start playing rugby like here in their 20s and 30;s you don’t have that knowledge, so we need to get younger people involved,” Crick added,
The European Rugby coach also lauded the Nigeria Women’s National team for their success stories in the region, stressing that they will only be effective if they can learn the finest skills of the game.
“There was no women’s team in Nigeria but it’s nice to see two women attending the course here hopefully we will have more on the Level 1 Course. I have seen the videos of Nigeria’s women’s team, they are big, strong, and athletic but if they learn the finest skills of the game, they could be effective,” he said
The ongoing three-day training at CMS Grammar School. Bariga, Lagos commenced on Friday and would come to a close on Sunday.
