In the autumn of 2011 Joe Page and Joël Martin travelled to St Lucia where they worked with the National St. Lucian rugby union to develop the game on the island. This was done by coaching the National male and female teams, as well as establishing and coaching a number of youth groups in the country.
This project began six months earlier when Joël Martin was contacted by Colvis Samuels; the President of the SLRFU, and asked if he was able to come to St Lucia to aid the sports development. Joël was in his final year of a sports coaching degree at UCLAN and had links with the team having played for them during his gap year in 2008/9. Joël then paired up with Joe Page, a friend and experienced coach, and began to run an appeal for kit donations. One of the issues St Lucia faced with developing rugby was it lack of basic kit and equipment, especially for the children. The pair contacted many schools, sports colleges and clubs. They gained media attention through an article in the Bristol Evening Post. They received generous donations from Filton College, Colston's school, Clifton RFC, QEH school, Tag Rugby Trust, and Charlie (a former coach) in Longwell Green. By the time of their departure at the beginning of October, they had amassed over 50 pairs of boots, 70 playing jerseys, cones, balls, bibs, shorts, socks, agility ladders, hurdles, ball bags, resistance bands etc.
The SLRFU wanted to use the two coach's presence on the island a "launch pad" to raise the profile and create a "buzz" around St. Lucian rugby. Hence Colvis arranged two National television interviews, in which the project plans were publicised and explained. It was also a chance to showcase all the donations and thank those who had aided the people of St Lucia. The following day was the first session with the National Team at the world renowned Beausejour cricket ground. The National team, who train three times a week, were in their final month of preparation for NACRA (North American and Caribbean Rugby Association) 7's International Tournament. With Colvis away; attending an IRB meeting in New Zealand, Joe and Joël were placed in charge of training both male and female teams. The UK duo enjoyed this extra responsibility and excelled in their new roles. As a result, the team began to make significant progress, most notably with the introduction of twice weekly gym sessions.
The first test came when the British Virgin Islands' (BVI) women's team arrived in St. Lucia for a 7-a-side tag match. The St. Lucian women had never played tag before and this was clear in the opening phases of the game when a number of players were penalised for tackling their opposite player and not retreating 5metres following contact. But they soon adapted and, despite losing their game to very experienced opposition, showed a lot of fight and sprit.
Two weeks later the male and female team flew over to Barbados for the NACRA 7's. This would be the real test of the Joe & Joël's coaching and hard work on the island. The women started off the day with an unfortunate loss to USA South. The nerves were evident on the St. Lucian side with a number of mistakes and an early try for USA. But St. Lucia came back to even the score with a good try. Their confidence increased until an interception and try by USA rocked them, and the game was sealed when USA scored a final try. The final score was USA South 19 - St Lucia 7.
The St. Lucia men had a great start to the day with some truly stunning rugby being played. A much for physically dominant Curacao were shown how dangerous speed is in the 7's game. The game ended St. Lucia 17 - Curacao 5. The women were clearly out to prove a point following their defeat to the USA and went unbeaten for the rest of the day (St. Lucia 10 - Barbados 0, St Lucia 5 - Guyana 5, St Lucia 7 - Mexico 0). The men followed up their victory over Curacao with a close victory over BVI (7-5) but lost their final game of the day to reigning Caribbean Champions Guyana (0-45). St. Lucia hoped to carry their winning ways on to the following day but were hampered by a number of injuries with Edlon Charlery suffering a fractured cheek against Guyana, while many of the other players were nursing knocks or strains from playing multiple games in a single day. On the second day a weakened men's team lost out to the fast paced Jamaican outfit and then lost narrowly to Martinique. The women had a mixed day; they lost to Trinidad and Tobago in their opening match, but put in another great performance to defeat Mexico, for the second time in the tournament. They then faced Guyana who came out flying and narrowly overcame them. Both sides had done their country proud, having recorded their best results to date!
http://www.thevoiceslu.com/sports/2011/november/19_11_11/Rugby.htm
On their return to St. Lucia Joe and Joël began to work with children in a bid to develop the game at a grassroots level. A number of youth groups were formed in local communities on the island and equipped with all the donations brought over from the UK. The UK duo continued to train the National team three nights a week, on the other days they moved around the different youth groups conducting training sessions and putting on friendly matches. These sessions were extremely successful and turnout continued to grow, which spoke volumes for the potential growth of the game. For example, the first session which took place in the rural Babonnau area, consisted of around ten children, by the second session of around thirty were waiting for their first taste of rugby! The key focus of these sessions was to make it fun, developing skills through games rather than drills. The kit donations were crucial; many of the children had originally been playing in bare feet, with many suffering cut feet on glass and stones which littered the field. But fortunately boots could be given to the vast majority of the children participating!
In November the National team travelled to Martinique to participate in the Coca Cola 10's tournament. This was another fantastic weekend of rugby with an excellent turnout of teams from around the Caribbean and the Martinique domestic league. Both Joe and Joël were able to play in the tournament, giving both of them unofficial caps for St Lucia! The team had a fantastic tournament and came third overall, with Jerry Charles (St. Lucia fly-half) being awarding MVP of the tournament.
The work with the youth groups continued throughout November, progress and participation increasing week by week. In December all this hard work culminated into the first ever youth rugby tournament being held on the island. All the youth groups came together at the Micoud playing field. The tournament was a huge success with 5 young teams entered and two over 18 sides competing throughout the day. There was press and radio coverage, a DJ, bar and large crowd, along with an award ceremony at the end of the event. This was a huge step forward in the development of the game at a grassroots level on the isle.
http://www.thevoiceslu.com/sports/2011/december/06_12_11/Historic.htm
Due to the success and progress made by the project the pair were invited to meet with the St Lucian Ministry of sport and of education. They were asked if they could continue their work on the island to aid the development of sport.
http://www.thevoiceslu.com/sports/2011/november/26_11_11/Rugby.htm. Touched by this appeal Joe and Joël formed the organisation Caribbean Coaching which aims to transport aspiring coaches and players from the UK to coach in St. Lucia and aid in developing sport on the island. The kit appeal is also ongoing with all donations greatly appreciated.
For more information on the kit appeal and the first tour to St Lucia please have a look at www.stluciarugbycoaching.co.uk or if you would be interested in travelling out to coach in the Caribbean visit www.caribbeancoaching.org
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