Fitness Gurus Grow in Fiji
Whenever a team wins little acknowledgement is given to those who inspire and motivate the players to deliver.
Those usually praised include the coach, captain, try-scorer, kicker, best player, high work rates during the game, good defender and the list goes on.
Strength and conditioning coaches are professionals who make every player better than what they were the previous day.
The standard of rugby in Fiji has improved tremendously now that players are been scouted by overseas teams. With that in mind provincial sides in the Skipper Cup competitions have employed strength and conditioning coaches. Kudos to our provincial strength and conditioning coaches for bringing up the level of fitness for players at the Skipper Cup competition.
SNC or trainer is always the common names used during team training or game day.
Gone are the days where village trainers would step in and train a team who runs for one hour no rest.
Thanks to World Rugby and Fiji Rugby the growth and development of rugby in the country has introduced qualified trainers like Nacanieli Cawanibuka who continues to educate his fellow SNC coaches the importance of giving out proper training method.
Ever wondered why the pace and the tempo of the competition has been raised to another level? Trainers are the people behind the scene who look after a physical performance of a team they use exercise prescription to improve the performance of teams and players. So often have teams and players given the credit for a good game and consistent performance when the true accolade goes to these men and women who give their time to change the destiny of a team and player.
We applaud their hard work, tireless efforts and commitments to their teams. They are probably the closest officials to the players they are first to arrive at the training grounds, attend to all injuries with strapping and identifying injuries, conditioning of the body, activating players for the session and giving them physical drills that helps in their fitness level.
FRU through Cawanibuka have been conducting Level 1 course that will expand on the physical conditioning content in the Rugby Ready course. The topics addressed will seek to enhance the coach’s knowledge and understanding of strength and conditioning for the Rugby player. In particular, the course will introduce the coach to the Long Term Player Development Pathway in a practical manner. A simple yet informative Functional Screen will be outlined. The coach will then be introduced to the concept and practice of ‘Anatomical Adaptation’, or preparing the player to be fit to train, practise and play. This approach to physical conditioning emphasises a combination of stability, mobility and strength training activities while simultaneously engaging in rugbyrelated activities.
The coach will study the physical demands of the game as well as the principles of training. These will allow the coach to integrate physical conditioning into a more gamerelated conditioning process. Practical guidelines for conducting the warm-up and cool-down will be discussed and described. Principles of the important component of speed will be discussed. Practical examples of speed, multi-sprint/ activity conditioning and conditioned games will be outlined.
FRU CEO, John O’Connor said that by conducting these S&C courses, there will be a better understanding by the participants of the other work involved when it comes to coaching a team in terms of skills, diet, and fitness and player development. This course was part of FRU’s long term plans in developing and educating the local provincial coaches in line with World Rugby’s requirements for educating and developing coaches. In the midst of it all hangs around during clarity sessions and always ready to play his or her multi role whenever a player gets injured during training.
Skipper Cup kicked off with a bang with the FRU introducing the new double header format where the trainers and the teams had a quick turnaround time to prepare.
With the pandemic crisis and players not having time to train together, the strength and conditing coaches hand out there training programmes.
That has proven to be a secret weapon when the Skipper Cup begun a few months back.
The players looked fit and ready to go and that reflected the tireless dedication of the trainers that make sure everything is checked from fitness to body conditioning and diet.
Nowdays the performance of a rugby team in the Skipper competition depends on the trainers capability in preparing the teams fitness levels to match their opponents.
It’s good to see that more young Fijians are into learning the art of becoming a very good trainer that understands the demand of the game in the modern era of rugby FRU head of Strength and Condition coach Nacanieli Cawanibuka has really set the standard for our local coaches by doing clinics and reaching out to S and C coaches in rural areas.
Such commitment by the Olympic Gold medal winning team trainer have created many new strength and conditioning coaches in Fiji. Most importantly grow and improve the level of competition in Fiji.