“Building a House of C.A.R.D.S.: The Practice Structures of Coaches in a Professional Rugby Union Academy” is a chapter by Edward Thomas Hall, Aiden McNulty, Mark Laycock, and James Ponton published in Sports Coaching: A Theoretical and Practical Guide.
Core Focus of the Research
The C.A.R.D.S. Framework: Explores how the Newcastle Falcons Academy operationalizes an acronym standing for Creativity, Awareness, Resilience, Decision-making, and Self-organisation.
Practice Design: Details real-world, constrained training activities meant to mirror the unpredictable, chaotic nature of professional rugby union. [
Match-Realistic Constraints: Explains structuring training pauses, sub-unit drills (like 1v1, 3v3, or 5v5 scrums/restarts), and video reflection around actual match-play metrics to build cognitive and physical resilience
Notes from Café:
· Took a while to read through because it kept sparking back to own practice
· Academic but easily applies to coaching practice
· Reflect own coaching nar…
