Player-centered coaching with Nick Hill

Positive pedagogy for sport coaching

In this episode I speak with Nick Hill. Nick is head coach/director of rugby of the Men’s Rugby Club at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). He took over the club in Fall, 2018. Hill has an impressive resume of international coaching experience from several different schools in the U.K. to schools and clubs in Chile. Along the way, there were self-funded trips to shadow the coaching staff of the Canterbury Crusaders in New Zealand and then again with the Ulster Rugby staff in Belfast. Hill is also a devotee of the Gambetta Athletic Improvement Network or GAIN for short.

Nick believes in a player-centered environment. This is one where Games Based Coaching is used with a purpose for game action where players learn skills in the context of the real game, rather than just for the sake of a drill for drill’s sake. Players are encouraged to work things out for themselves and are not just told what to do. Guided Discovery questioning is one of the key coaching tools for Hill. This develops a culture that motivates the player’s involvement in practice as more than doers of drills, but active learners that take ownership of their development.

You can contact Nick at: nickhillcoaching.com and he is on Twitter @NH_Coaching_