The Singapore Rugby Union conducted the Match Day Commissioner and Team Manager workshops in August 2017. This is the first time that SRU has hosted these courses and the uptake has been very encouraging.
A total of 21 participants from all rugby clubs in Singapore participated in the workshops, which aim to improve pitch side control, match day administration and player welfare awareness at Singapore Rugby’s tournaments.
“The match day commissioner (MDC) has to coordinate with various club representatives and stakeholders to get the tournament/match kicking off according to schedule. He/she needs to stay calm under intense pressure and have a clear grasp of rugby knowledge. The MDC workshop has equipped us with the knowledge and skills to run a rugby tournament at national and international level,” Mr. Richmond Ong who is going into his third year as a MDC.
“Team manager duties start from the day we know the dates of our competition. From day 1, we will plan our budget and communicate with various travel and organising bodies till the day that the team arrives home safely. Everything is prepared so that our players can focus only on their training and the coaches can focus on building the team. This course has allowed me to learn from other team managers as well and also an opportunity for me to understand better about the citing and medical procedures,” Mr. Bob Liu, National Women’s team manager, Singapore Women’s SEA Games rugby 7s Silver medalist team.
These workshops are part of a series of workshops that SRU has committed to run to improve the playing and governance components for rugby in Singapore. In 2018, SRU will also run Volunteer workshops and Club Governance workshops with aims to help improve and strengthen local club infrastructures.
“Both workshops were well received as most participants were unsure of their roles and sought clarity on protocols and processes which were part of the content. By the end of the workshop, all were clear on match day protocols and SRU’s stand for pitch side management expectations.
In July 2017, Mr. Lee Smith (Former All Black) ran a defence workshop for coaches, and he will follow up on this in November 2017. Match Day Commissioner and Team Manager workshops will be run again in 2018 to meet the needs of entities that work closely with SRU to host tournaments and continue to improve match day governance with player welfare in mind, ” Mr. Gene Tong, SRU Technical Director.
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