Teams 
Bideford RFC welcomed “Global Coach” Mike Penistone for three nights. Report by Mark Priest & photographs by Kevin Crowl.
Bideford RFC had the pleasure of welcoming renowned coach Mike Penistone to do three consecutive nights training sessions for all age groups. Mike has experience in coaching both Rugby Union and Rugby League in both the northern and southern hemispheres.
The colts and senior players had a session each on the Tuesday and Thursday evening whilst the Under 15’s had his tutelage on the Wednesday evening which was followed by a coaching seminar for those coaches that watched this session.
His knowledge and attention to detail were soon apparent to all those that attended these sessions coupled with boundless amounts of his enthusiasm and all those that attended remarked on the intensity and concentration needed throughout each tailor made session.
Throughout each session his experience of coaching at the highest levels of the game shone through as all the players quickly realised what was expected of them and they all responded accordingly. It was very noticeable how the influence of the southern hemisphere coaching style with great emphasis applied to both foot and ball speed, coupled with high levels of precision in all each individual aspect of the particular skill sets.
At the end of each sessions all the attending coaches and players remarked on the speed and intensity of each skill sets and how it had “opened their eyes” to a different style of coaching. No doubt we will all continue to work on many of the various skill sets that Mike brought to the training sessions and in time these will be applied with success on match days.
We would like to thank Mike for his individual knowledge and personal insight into this wonderful game of ours and hopefully we will can now build a successful relationship in the future. We wish you a safe trip back to Australia and look forward to seeing you again in the future.
