Behind Every Great Rugby Practice…

Originally from Ireland, Lisa Finegan grew up playing Gaelic football, soccer, and basketball. She started playing rugby “late” – at 16, continued through college and competed at the international level. After traveling around the world, she moved to Los Angeles where she has spent the last 10 years as the co-director of the ICEF Student Leadership Academy, a charter school network serving 2,500 kids. In addition to helping students excel in academics and arts, ICEF was recognized as the best charter school in the US for sports offerings. Inspired by the mentors and coaches she had, Lisa is the head coach of the ICEF high school girls rugby program.

Describe the perfect practice

A great session is when the players leave thinking, “I can’t wait for the next session.” It has to be fun and competitive. I try to create experiences where students feel like they are being challenged. One of the reasons teenage girls drop out of sports is that they don’t feel like it’s fun anymore. I try to make practice fun, competitive, and interactive, so every single player is interacting with everyone in the squad. Also, it has to be student-led. I’ll pull out one or two players during our practice session to either lead warm ups or peer teach a lot of the time. That’s the bones of a good session.

What are some of your go-to drills or games? 

Every activity we do is focused on social emotional learning (SEL) with leadership development opportunities throughout each session, like students leading the warm-ups, for example. Sharks and Minnows is a great warm-up activity that they love. We have them start with speed walking and eventually have them progress to full sprint. We incorporate partner and group/team challenges, too.

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What’s something you’ve learned from another coach? 

A sensitivity to the communication that you’re giving a young person is really important. You have to understand every single player you’re coaching, treat every kid uniquely and adapt your style of delivery for each player. You’re a mentor, a role model, and someone they can trust. Building trust with young people and developing strong relationships with each player is incredibly important. Recognize that there are different needs in different communities and allow your players to feel safe and confident to communicate with you whatever it is that they need. 

What’s the most challenging part of being a coach? 

It’s like an endurance sport for coaches on and off the field because we all have careers and we all want to give back. It’s challenging to maintain a level of endurance throughout the year that’s needed to best support the students as they develop. One of the hardest parts of coaching is actually turning up and being your best self for those kids because they need you to do the job as best as you can. 

What’s the best thing about being a coach? 

When I’m coaching, I’m always chasing the feeling of seeing that poetry in motion, when we’re seeing everything that we’ve put into practice come together during a game. I love that feeling.

I’ve been incredibly grateful for the sports experiences I’ve gotten, and I feel like it’s a responsibility of mine to give back to a community in need. The kids who play sports at the biggest schools in LA have six or seven coaches at their practices, plus an athletic trainer and a sports psychologist. Those kids are going to be absolutely fine. A lot of communities around the world are just forgotten because they’re under-resourced. These kids really need good coaches and that makes it so rewarding. 

Our rugby program is about much more than playing the sport. There are a number of different experiences that our students get to be involved with, like international travel. Some kids have never left Los Angeles and one of the biggest challenges for us this year was making sure that they got their passports. Providing these really unique and exceptional opportunities to our kids is really rewarding. 

What’s the secret to great coaching?

Follow your heart. By understanding who you are as an individual and what your skills are and by finding your community and how you can support it, you’ll create opportunities in your life that align with your passion.

 

Lisa Finegan is a National Winner of the Positive Coaching Alliance Coach of the Year award, which is presented by TeamSnap.