Vote John - flying the flag for rugby
John Hilton head coach of Windsor Dames, is flying the flag for rugby having been selected as a finalist for the UK Coaching Hero public vote as part of UK Coaching Week, and you can vote for him.
VOTE JOHN
His citation tells of him keeping the team connected and engaged by hosting online training sessions and encouraging players’ fitness challenges without which “some of our team members would have struggled” during lockdown. It also says he constantly checked in on a squad member when two of her family were diagnosed with cancer, he “allowed me to confide in him at the toughest of times and offered more support than I would ever imagine from a rugby coach.”
John, now 34, used to play for Windsor but retired aged 29 through injury. He started playing rugby aged five at Leigh rugby club in Lancashire, where his dad Mike is currently treasurer, then played for Orrell and Wigan before playing on the wing for the University of the West of England in Bristol.
At Windsor he played either wing or full back and on retiring joined the women’s coaching team because they needed help with the backs. He’s now head coach in a team of three, with Ray Cox and George Jupp who bring additional expertise, Ray having coached the club’s first team forwards and both having played alongside John.
“We work well together,” said John. “It’s been a pretty tough time because at one point we were struggling for numbers and covid didn’t help. Now we have some brand new players which is brilliant as we rebuild.
“Being limited to covering the basics because of the pandemic has been turned into a positive as we could concentrate on catching, passing, position. The approach to coaching has to be different with a women’s team, there’s a great mix of those who haven’t played before, didn’t get the opportunity at school, and more experienced players. As a male player I would have coaches yelling at me, as a male coach I can’t be a dictator. I need to explain why and help them find the answers.
“I really enjoy it and it’s a beautiful setting at the club, across the road from Windsor Castle. I was hugely surprised to hear I had been nominated for this UK Coaching Hero award. I just turn up and do my best to make rugby enjoyable but I have to admit it’s great to be appreciated.”
Having studied human biology for his degree, John is now a sales business manager for brain surgery medical instruments. So one phrase you won’t hear him use about rugby coaching is it’s not brain surgery!
