A coach on a mission
Jordan Young was playing hooker for Aston Old Edwardians. Aged 18, he had moved from the Colts to the first XV when he dislocated his knee cap.
It might be imagined that would end his passion for rugby but Jordan, now 24, decided to take up coaching when the RFU was recruiting during the 2015 Rugby World Cup and he has been loving it ever since.
“I was at university in Worcester and playing for the club at weekends. With some of my best mates. I’d moved up to the firsts and the injury was a big negative but what it did was act as a drive to take up and pursue coaching.
“I was a massive football fan growing up in Birmingham but was very lucky to go to King Edward VI Aston where rugby was the main sport. I really enjoyed the fact that there was a role for everyone and I eventually played hooker at school and the local club, which had such a welcoming environment and became a real family.”
Now with his day job as a community development officer for Wasps, Jordan is also this year’s chair of the RFU’s National Youth Council in his third and final year involved. He has coached his club men’s first XV for two years. In addition, he met a Coventry University player doing her work placement at Wasps and discovered they needed to recruit a coach.
He has coached the university women’s team through three seasons. In the first they were unbeaten and promoted, in the second they were second in the new league and just before Covid hit they were top of their league. They have, said Jordan, developed from a social side to a competitive one with ambitions to move up the BUCS ladder. Pre-Covid they secured their first ever Varsity win against Warwick University.
Another women’s team to coach
With no training facilities for the women players at the university, they were welcomed by Trinity Guild RFC, who, from hosting the university squad, set up a women’s team alongside, which Jordan also coaches. You might say that rugby is his life!
He loves his role with Wasps, running a range of community programmes, working in inner city environments, with mixed ability rugby, introducing the sport to new audiences, inspiring youngsters and discovering how to keep them engaged and enjoying rugby. Working with women players is, however, something he hugely enjoys.
“Sometimes it’s easier coaching men because you ask them to do something and they just say fine,” he said. “Women are far more receptive, they want to learn, to know why. Once they understand the reasoning they are amazing and there are no egos, they are just very open to learning.
“I’m fortunate to have a great coaching team including Wasps’ Jacob Umaga and Worcester Warriors’ Meg Varley. Meg is crucial in my coaching team because she’s a great role model for both the Guild Women and Junior girls. Equally, we’re very conscious that some topics are sensitive, and some players might not want to talk to me about those so they’re able to speak to Meg if that’s more comfortable and we’re able to tailor sessions accordingly. It feels like I’ve been coaching a while and I know I’ve got so much still to learn, long-term I would love to be involved with elite coaching for women, they are such intelligent rugby players.
“Coaching wasn’t where I was originally headed but I love it. You’re very much part of the rugby family and those relationships with players, other coaches and everyone involved are what makes the game so special. That’s what attracted me to rugby in the first place.”
