Warriors and Latics sharing Coaching ideas

• Wigan Warriors and Wigan Athletic share best practices for Academy coaching.
• Members of coaching staff from all levels involved.
• Shane Eccles: “It was clear that we had some common ground.”

Wigan Warriors and Wigan Athletic recently held a joint CPD event at Wigan Athletic’s Stadium Way Academy. 

The event saw coaches from all levels of the two Clubs attend to discuss and share best practices and developmental knowledge.

Presentations were made by the two Clubs, both of whom boast successful Academies, with Head of Youth Performance Shane Eccles leading on behalf of Wigan Warriors and Head of Coaching Matt Williams presenting for Wigan Athletic.

Following the presentations, there were some small group discussions that centred around specific age ranges.

Warriors Head of Youth Performance Shane Eccles said: “After initially discussing the aims of our Academy systems with Jake it was clear that we had some common ground and made perfect sense to create a connection between the two clubs where we can improve by learning from practitioners in another sport. 

“The evening was a great success with lots of feedback from our coaches about discussions they had with the Wigan Athletic coaches which seems to have generated an enthusiasm to try new ideas.”

Eccles added: “We are blessed in Wigan to have two academies that have high aspirations for player development, the aim now is to develop this link further to continue to improve our practice across all areas of our youth department. 

“This is hopefully the start of more collaboration between the clubs, and we can build a strong working relationship going forward to continue improving the development of young players in both academies.”

Wigan Athletic Academy Manager Jake Campbell said: “The event, organised by Shane Eccles and Matt Williams, was the first of its kind and was a huge success. Having two highly productive elite sporting youth academies in the same town presents a unique opportunity for knowledge-sharing and collaborative working relationships amongst all of our staff. 

“There are lessons to be learnt across sports and whilst this event focused primarily on coaching, I would hope that other departments can begin to develop similar events and relationships to allow our clubs, and their respective academies’, to continue to grow together.”