Colm McMahon | “We Want To Get Everybody Back Out Playing”

We spoke to Head of Rugby Development Colm McMahon as he reflects on what has been an unprecedented year for domestic rugby in the province.

McMahon took up the role as Head of Rugby Development in January after spending over a decade working within the province in various roles including Coach Development Officer, Elite Player Development Officer in the Greencore Munster Rugby Academy and interim forwards coach at the beginning of the 2019/20 season ahead of Graham Rowntree’s arrival to the province.

With such broad experience, McMahon was keen to observe a ‘normal’ domestic season and to become aware of any changes to the last time he was involved in this area before making improvements to the overall game in the province. Of course, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic put a halt to any such plans as the Clare man explains:

“It has been tough because we had to react in March when we were getting to some really exciting finals in the province and heading into playoffs in competitions. From that to stopping everything and being unable to finish the season.

“We’ve had to react a lot which we try to do as good as we can but bearing in mind it’s our job, that’s part of something that we have to do. It’s the volunteers at the clubs, the coaches, players, the volunteers, the safety officers who put their hands up to run compliance. They’re the people we really have to remember. They’re working so hard to try to facilitate the game in their club or school at a time when it’s really difficult and they’re the ones that we’ll keep remembering. If we can get it right and give them clear messages that they understand, then we’ve done a decent job.”

McMahon added:

“The idea of getting to know everybody, getting to look at the whole scope of what’s involved in rugby development because there is so much there when you look at it. As well as coach and player development, support of clubs and schools, huge amount on the administration side, helping out to see if we can make the game better for the referees, trying to see the competition structures – are they what gives the players the best positive rugby experience or do we need to tweak them to give the players more meaningful matches?

“We’ve had lots and lots of conversations about how we like to do things but again, we have to keep them on ice until we get back to what looks like our regular season where we can play games every weekend and make sure we’re giving players an opportunity to play quality matches.”

Communication

When all rugby activity was halted in March, McMahon says that clear communication to clubs played a massive part of the rugby development department’s role due to the numerous understandable concerns that clubs throughout the province would have had as a result of the pandemic.

Thankfully, as the number of COVID cases in the country improved throughout the summer, training was allowed to resume and as McMahon explains, communication played a big role.

“When we got back into the summer and numbers were going in the right direction, we had an opportunity to get players back out on the ground. Again, looking at what was a very safe way to go back, adhere to the government guidelines but give very clear messages to clubs on what they could and couldn’t do.

“Trying to support the excellent club volunteers who put their hands up as COVID safety officers and compliancy officers in clubs, giving them really clear messages and taking away any confusion was a big part of what we tried to do. They were people who were volunteering time and putting themselves in a position of looking after the welfare of a huge number of members of a club.”

Non-contact sessions and online resources

During this time, the staff within the Rugby Development Department visited clubs and schools throughout the province to demonstrate what kind of sessions could be run whilst maintaining and adhering to government guidelines.

“When we got back into getting on the pitch, the staff were certainly very excited to get back out and look after club support. We went in and we showed the clubs the stuff we had been preaching that we felt was allowed through the guidelines. We got into some player development stuff as well in late July and in August. Again, I think because people had been away from the game for so long there was a huge buzz of being back and the young players we brought in enjoyed it. The staff really enjoyed it. The staff went to clubs and worked there and showcased what could be done for the non-contact sessions and how you look after pods and the cleaning of the equipment and all that type of stuff. Stuff that has now become second nature but at the time was very new to everybody involved.”

Due to the nature of the pandemic and the ever-changing situation surrounding what is or is not permissible, the roll-out of online webinars and other coaching resources were a key part of the strategy from the Rugby Development Department.

“Another really important part of this broken up season has been the online resources that have been available to clubs and schools. Keith Murphy and his team of coach and player development and rugby development officers, they have done a huge amount of work online to get messages out because that is the new way of getting messages out through Webinars and coaching content online.

“That has been really important and I know that again, coaches out in the clubs and schools have found that every useful. It’s making sure that we get a really good message out there and we give them an opportunity so what we can support them when they want to run sessions and use that resource.”

Looking ahead to 2021

The fact that underage players have been able to train in recent months has been a huge positive for rugby development in the province especially considering the physical and mental well-being benefits it provides.

“They need to physically get out and exercise and it would be very helpful towards their mental well-being as well. But it has been hugely important and the whole thing about families struggling with homeschooling back in April and May. I think anybody who has kids has felt that. We’ve seen the benefits now of kids being back in school and the benefits of children having an opportunity to get out, meet their friends, get on a pitch and kick a ball around.

“The physical and mental side has been a real benefit there. I think that’s really important. We have to remember that outdoor exercise is relatively safe when we look at the threat comparison to indoor. Giving players the opportunity to do that has been really important. You talk to any parent who has had their kid involved in exercise over the last couple of weeks, they’re so grateful that their children have had their opportunity to get out and play in the fresh air and have what that normal experience is.”

Looking ahead to 2021, McMahon is hoping that a more traditional domestic season isn’t too far away and he is looking forward to getting an opportunity to get back to what the Rugby Development Department does best – creating a positive rugby experience in the province for anyone who wants to play or be involved in the sport.

“We have a huge amount of time to reflect on how we did our business as a staff and as a department. We’ve done a lot of that. We had a lot of stuff lined up and ready to get back to but we’re still playing that reaction game to COVID numbers and to government announcements. We’re hoping to get back to a normal season as quick as possible.

“We want to get everybody back out playing that wants to play the game. Get back to what we normally do which is to give people who haven’t played the game of rugby an opportunity to play in a safe environment and create a good, positive rugby experience for them so that they want to play the game and get involved in it as much as possible. Be that in their school or in their club. And that goes for players, coaches, volunteers and clubs that look after all the background stuff and then retain them in the game because they enjoyed their time.”