Try, try and succeed as Coleraine girls’ rugby gets up and running: profile of Johnny Diamond, coach
Jonny Diamond isn’t afraid to tackle a lot of work – apart from dedicating 10 hours of his time to coaching rugby at his local girls’ club, the 21-year-old from Coleraine also has demanding roles at church and university.
He’s going into his final year studying Theology and Youth Work at Moorlands College in Dorset, which is run out of Youth Link in west Belfast. That will give him the choice of doing youth or interface work when he’s qualified – or go into rugby coaching full time.
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Hide AdThe former fly-half with Coleraine and Dalriada turned to refereeing and coaching after he hung up his boots.
“I coached boys U16 and U12 for two years and then became aware of plans to start girls,” said Jonny, who started a ‘Give It A Try’ event for eight weeks to gauge the interest in girls’ rugby in his local area.
He subsequently created the Coleraine Girls’ Youth Rugby section, comprising U14 and U16 teams.
His role as Female Rugby Convener has many facets, including organisation of training every week and running a two-hour session every Monday. Jonny also organises the wider coaching team, as well as matches, pulls in sponsorships and looks after all the administration behind the scenes.
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Hide Ad“That could be team sheets or planning for forthcoming home or away matches for both squads,” he said, adding “There’s always plenty to keep me busy.”
If it wasn’t for Jonny’s tireless efforts, there wouldn’t be a Coleraine girls rugby team.
“When I came into the role there wasn’t any girls’ rugby in this area; I built it up from zero,” he said. “After that eight-week ‘Give It A Try’ I was positive that we could create teams at two different ages.”
The fledgling teams suffered some early defeats but practice has significantly improved them.
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Hide Ad“The U14s got to the semi-final of a cup competition and the U16 made it to a cup final, which is very encouraging” he said.