I am about to complete my level 1 and have been asked to take charge of a group of players at my local club who are 5-6 year old (all boys at the moment), with a view to them being ready for playing mini rugby when they are old enough.

Can anybody please offer and advise and session suggestions? I have the coaching toolbox from the RFL but feel the drills/session content in it are not ideal for kids this young. At the moment the coach taking them takes them for a 50-60 min session with a 10 min warm up (stuck in the mud etc) with 30 mins relays/drills (raid the bases etc) finishing with a game of either bulldog or dodgeball to complete the session.

I don't know if the RFL coachwise website will have more resources (cannot access yet) - can anybody point me in the direction of anything or offer any advice please?

thanks in advance

Get some WWE stuff, modern league is all about the wrestling. Show them Jeff Lima's ligament adjustment finisher. They'd love that.

Just play lots of games - our youngest at Bury love that and it's all about keeping the group together and very very very basic skills - if they involve the rugby ball then great.

Ayres Rock on these forums coaches the group at Langworthy Reds so may be worth a PM.

Go on Youtube - loads of drills / rugby games on there

Keep it fun with lots of games is IMO the ultimate rule

Like said above, keep it fun and keep em moving.

One thing the coach does for the nippers at our club is gets them all round a big tree to try to push it down (helps there stretching etc)

And get them crashing into tackle pads and shields, they love that

Thinking of getting the pads and shields out next week, would be their first time on them. Didn't know if I should be concentrating on ball work and or evasion as not many of them seem able to catch/pass but I suppose mixing it up is the best option to keep them interested.

thanks

As has been said, plenty of small games to keep them moving and running. I'd say at that age to do lots of different activities that each don't take that long since their attention span wont be very long and you don't want them bored.

It's great to use the pads every now and again but I'd definitely concentrate on small games that involve handling and small amounts of passing. The more they handle and get used to a rugby ball the better, most other things can be learnt when they're older but it's never too early to start getting used to a rugby ball.

Don't overtrain them, concentration is limited. Mix it up, lots of praise and share the workload. Make sure they all get a run with the ball. My lads (now 10 and 13) always loved it when the coach ended the session with a game of British Bulldog (if they were good in training).

Not sure where you live but if you're in the Wigan area go down to St Judes for 10.30 on a Saturday morning and watch the youngsters being put through training drills.

Alternatively if you're the correct side of the Pennines pop over to Kirkstall on a Saturday morning for 10am

Check out:
you tube for videos
Sportplan website where you can get 15 free drills a month
Look for the RLCM coaching books on the web, they're free to download
Also rlcoaching.co.UK has some downloadable content particularly for building initial foundation skills

Teach them how to cheat. Michael Maguire might give you a hand. Failing that, try Jeff Lima or any one from the town of Wigan

Thanks for all the advise, will probably try get to a session over the next couple of weeks to see how the others do it and what to expect from the group.

Anybody any thoughts on contact and tackling? As things stand they generally finish with a game of bulldog - and they love it, and every now and again have a "game" but this tends to be 10-15 a side and taking it in turns to run with the ball and invariably you have either the bigger faster kid who runs round the outside or the slower more timid kid who freeze's and I am not sure how much good this is doing.

I thought maybe a 1 v 1 tackle tunnel type drill maybe at walking pace to start with to try and get some basic technique into them and build confidence?

Yep, with contact introduce it nice and slowly, too much contact too early can really put off a lot of kids. If there's always 1 kid running through in the game at the end of training, introduce a rule where teams cant score until they've passed the ball 3 times (although that might be a bit too much for that age group) or if possible use another coach to stay with and encourage the "timid" kids and actively giving them the ball.
I would say building confidence is the main aim by far at this age though, or at most ages for that matter.