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BCRU taps Calitz
Jan-Christian Sorensen
jsorensen@nsnews.com
CAPILANO Rugby Football Club premier team head coach Ben Calitz has gotten a promotion.
Calitz, a South African native who came to Canada to coach the Caps last season and recently led the Calgary Saints to the Alberta championship, has been named the first Vancouver and Lower Mainland regional coach and youth development officer for the B.C. Rugby Union (BCRU).
Calitz's appointment is seen as a major step in the BCRU's initiative to develop the depth and quality of its youth rugby programs throughout the region and to further increase the numbers of players participating in the rapidly growing sport of rugby in B.C.
"I am very excited about this new opportunity," said Calitz. "I have a real love for the game and have always enjoyed working with kids. The 'return on investment' is fantastic when coaching kids. I am also impressed with the work that has been done in B.C. with youth rugby and I see a bright future if we can expand the current program."
West Van's Paul Timperley, who was named the BCRU director of rugby development earlier this year, said he was glad to enlist Calitz's services.
"We are happy to have Ben on board. He has a lot of rugby experience and has been very successful coaching teams at all ages and levels. It is fantastic for Vancouver rugby to take such a step. We now have youth development officers (YDOs) in most regions in B.C. and are working on getting them everywhere in the near future.
"We know this will be great for the future of rugby in B.C. We encourage clubs and schools to contact the YDOs and to make use of their expertise and resources to develop rugby in their area."
Also named as youth development officers along with Calitz were: Jason Young, Fraser Valley; John LaBoyne, Okanagan and Central Interior; Dave Mays, North Vancouver Island; and Jeff Williams, South Vancouver Island.
Timperley listed the youth development officers' priorities for the fall as:
n working with key volunteers in each club to schedule and run mini-rugby and age-grade programs;
n scheduling and visiting elementary and high schools in the individual club area to promote programs and running player induction camps, events and programs with the individual clubs based around the school visits;
n Implementing "bad weather" indoor skills and non-contact community programs;
n running regular mini-rugby coach and volunteer training courses and clinics in each club;
n setting up and working with the sub-committees to run age-grade leagues for boys and girls and setting up, promoting and running regular rugby development camps and clinics for young players during school holidays;
n working to implement regional fast-track programs for U-16, U-17 and U-18 boys and for U-16 girls, and recruiting coaches for these groups as well as identifying and working with local coaches to promote and implement the Japan Cup/BC Summer Games selection in the area;
n working to set up and run regular rugby coach development clinics for fast-track participants, club and school coaches as well as regular referee development clinics.
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