A conference was held recently regarding the importance of personal development managers within the Rugby space where the delegates conversed about their shared experiences in personal development relating to topics such as education, head injuries, the women’s game, retired players etc.
Senior Irish PDM Dr. Deirdre Lyons, who organized the event, said: “This is a chance to get player development managers from all around the world together to discuss our collective issues. Whether you’re in the northern or southern hemisphere, work with the sevens or XVs, men’s or women’s, we tend to have a lot of the same issues, challenges but also opportunities to grow our business.
This was the first conference that has taken place since the pandemic. Representatives from South Africa, New Zealand, England, Wales, Japan and the Pacific Islands were at the international conference which allowed for a wide range of input. One of the more important topics presented at the conference was around dealing with the growing membership of retired players.
“How do we support players when they leave the game so that they can have a really successful life outside of rugby? That’s something we’re discussing in-depth.” said Dr. Lyons.
The topic of a post-rugby career is something we take very seriously at Pacific Rugby players and we currently have various systems and measures in place to assist our pacific players in their journey of navigating their life once they hang up the boots.
One of the strategies that our own CEO Hale T Pole advocated and appointed PDM’s into both the Moana Pasifika and Fijian Drua Super Rugby sides.
“It’s benefited players massively. A player development manager is a “safe zone” for players to discuss any issues they are going through. But beyond that, we want to prepare our kids coming out of the islands to transition smoothly to France or England so that they’re well prepared by our PDMs there”
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Article written by:
Kace O’Neill & Vanessa Leota
