|Rugby development officer|
|Around the Academy:
Think you could make a career unearthing and coaching the latest rugby sensation for a living?
Harlequins community development officer Chris Davies offers a few tips for success.
How long have you been working as Harlequins coaching development officer at Harlequins?
I have been working here since November 2000.
Before that, I was a PE teacher in Devon, working part-time for Bath Rugby Club as their technical analyst.
I did a masters degree for a year in coaching science at Cardiff University after which I returned to Bath to work on a full-time basis.
But then I got the offer to join the Quins coaching development team, which I immediately grabbed.
What qualifications do you need to become a coaching development officer?
We have a variety of different coaching awards, but you have to have a minimum level one coaching certificate.
I'm currently working on my level three award.
I have been coaching for 10 years, from children who have never played the sport right up to international level with the England A women's team.
What do you do?
We are responsible for development with different rugby clubs, with primary and secondary schools and charities.
We attend lots of festivals across the country, organise club events, summer camps, rugby road shows, updating the Harlequins website.
So there are plenty of different things to keep us more than occupied.
What do you do in an average day?
Community development officers don't have average days!
We are the only people at the club who do not work set times, so our days vary from day to day.
We work lots of weekends and sometimes work seven days a week.