How swimming and being a match commissioner aids a coach's practice

Valentina Bianchetto is a coach, she's also a match commissioner, and used to be a swimming coach. She explains how these different areas aid her coaching

Valentina (on the far left)

In the last few years, I have focused on coaching women and girls. During the last season, I coached the U18s team at Old Reigatians, but I was also involved in the women and girls pathway.

I coached in the U16 ERDPP Girls in Surrey and in the U18 Centre of Excellence in the South East.

The plan for this coming season is similar, with the addition of getting some experience in the school/college environment.

I have a lot of different hats within rugby, but two of my favourite ones are coaching and getting involved as match commissioner.

The Match Commissioner is a senior official at the match venue and is responsible for matters related to the playing enclosure, the conduct of the match and the elements related to teams in the organisation of each match.

I have started getting involved in this role through my job at the RFU, where I cover the position of Discipline, Agents and Education Executive.

I completed my World Rugby qualification with the final assessment in Prague last November during the U18-U20 XV Men's Championship.

I have been working with Rugby Europe for a few years now, with appointments in Women's Championship and Trophy mainly, but also in the Men's Championship.

What I love about this role is that you get to work with some fantastic people from different unions.

The knowledge of rules and regulations must be of the highest standard, but you have also to be flexible and adapt to the environment you are in.

The main perk is that I get to travel to different countries and meet a lot of people involved in rugby at different levels.

When I travel for a match, I get to meet and speak with a lot of coaches and staff working at a high level.

This gives me the opportunity to chat and get new ideas. It also helps me better understand what it means competing at that level. 

I also get the opportunity to work on my leadership skills, which is essential for coaches and match commissioners.

Session goals and listening to players

The coaching session structure depends a lot on the environment I work in.

However, I always try to start with some fun activation/warm up to get body and mind ready for the main part of the session.

Fun is an essential part of my session as, when used at the right time, it really helps keep players engaged and motivated, especially when they are not having a great day.

I would then move into the main session with one or two main goals. 

At the end of the session, I feel it is important for players and coaches to have a chance to reflect.

I always try to schedule some time for the cool down and to give the chance to players to feedback on their learnings as well as the session itself.

I believe it is really important to immerse yourself in different environments. This helps improve your ability to adapt, but also the way you express yourself and tackle challenges.

Players tend to have different goals and levels of commitment club versus pathway.

One environment might require to you to focus on more detail, the other might need you to adapt your coaching to a more social environment.

However, they are all still players who want to enjoy the game and challenge themselves.

They want to learn and get better, and I always want to support them at my best.

I like to create an environment where people are comfortable asking questions and giving feedback. This is essential for empowering them in being part of their development and mine.

In addition to the group feedback at the end of the session, I also make sure I take time to speak to individuals to get their point of view, especially if they are still not comfortable to share in front of the group.

I also believe that it is very important to act on the feedback we receive. I make sure I take into consideration what can be implemented straight away or in the following sessions. This also shows to players that their opinion matters.

Influence of other sports

I have practised a lot of sports in my childhood, including swimming, artistic swimming, artistic gymnastics, shooting, pentathlon, but I discovered rugby quite late.

At 16, as I was a swimmer, I started teaching swimming and later moved into working across other sports while still studying sports at university.

Around the same time, one of my uni mates mentioned that the club he played for was looking for women to get involved in coaching rugby. As I liked rugby, I thought "why not" and I have been coaching since.

It is now 15 years and I have been lucky enough to have the opportunity to work with a variety of groups, including mixed minis, girls, and adults. 

When I moved to the UK, it was a big change. I discovered new ways of coaching and operating, but I was also able to share some of my experience gained in Italy which was great.

I have recently started doing some work as a coach developer and as well as a mentor and I am loving it!

The first two challenges moving from swimming coaching to rugby were definitely getting used to rain and mud!

Jokes aside, the two sports are strongly the opposite of each other: water v pitch, individual v team, fight against time v fight against an opposition.

It was a big change and I had to find ways to adapt my coaching to this new environment - What are the strengths I can use? What things do I need to prioritise and learn?

The biggest challenge has definitely been the tactical side of the game. It really helped me to start coaching with children and then I’ve built up my knowledge with experience, courses and the support of a lot of different coaches / mentors.

Swimming is a very technical sport and this has helped me a lot analyse the movements and actions of rugby, a sport I never really practise.

In addition, the majority of swimming competitions are quite short and every detail counts. A wrong start can affect the result of your performance massively, while a rugby match is much longer and gives more opportunities to fix any mistake made.

What I learnt from swimming is the belief that it is important to make a good start of the game and always aim to keep your performance at the best level.

The other important thing is motivation. When you compete as a swimmer, you have to find motivation within yourself as it is mainly a fight against time - and your head is in the water, so you do not really speak or listen to anyone.

This helps me support players to find their motivation to then be able to support the rest of the team.

Coaching Philosophy: I have always been an active child and I strongly believe in the importance of sports in people's life, but in particular for teenage girls and young women.

For this reason, I have decided to dedicate my coaching time developing those players on and off the pitch, and empower them to achieve their goals and dreams.

As a young high-level athlete, I experienced some of the challenges and worries they experience through injuries and setbacks, so I work with the group to create a positive, flourishing environment where everyone feels welcome and supported, and can unlock their full potential.

---