What Can the American Way Coaching Conference Accomplish?

08.19.2026Camps and Clinics, Int'l News

USA scrum coach Blake Bradford works a session on the scrum. Photo Calder Cahill.

Author: Alex Goff

The American Way Coaching Conference this past weekend in Florida was an interesting insight into where we are as a rugby nation.

Really, there were so many positives about the event, which was held around the US Rugby Foundation Hall of Fame dinner and the USA-vs-Argentina XV match. But we have decided to start with a negative to illustrate what we're talking about.

It's really about some skeptical comments we at GRR fielded about the conference. It's really about the fact that so few youth/high school/new coaches attended. The attendance was very good, we didn't take attendance but at the coaching panel moderated by GRR, over 50 were in attendance listening to three intelligent, accomplished coaches talk about issues within the craft of coaching.

Scott Lawrence stopped by for a working lunch discussion and Q&A session.

And not only that, they participated. We opened the panel up to questions early in the hour-long session and got a continuous stream of smart, inquisitive questions throughout the rest of the session.

So people attended, and they participated, and were engaged, but we'd have liked to see more.

It was also impressive to see USA Men's 15s Head Coach Scott Lawrence come by to speak about coaching and his journey, and to answer questions during the lunchtime. Lawrence was eager to be a part of the event despite the fact that his team was playing later on that day, and his enthusiasm for the Conference was clear.

However ...

However ... this is a starting off point. To the skeptics, organizer Kevin Battle would say "hey, we've got to get these conferences going again. So we're starting."

And that's just it. It's really easy to say "oh, your attempt didn't tick all the boxes or is imperfect in this specific way," but doing nothing hasn't helped.

Newly-inducted US Rugby Hall-of-Famer Kevin Battle set up this conference.

We need coaches gathering and talking about coaches. We need referees gathering and talking about the sport more and interacting with coaches more.

And we need to shake things up, we need to inspire, and we need to find ways forward.

Alex Goff, Evan Wollen, Dan Arbeznik, and Irene Gardner in the Craft of Coach panel.

It Wasn't Even Necessarily Rugby

Some of the most compelling presentations didn't come from a rugby-only viewpoint. Leader of Athletes was from Bo Bosier and came from a US Marine Corps viewpoint.

Joe Bennett's presentation about how a change in focus and techniques regarding grassroots hockey in the USA led to high performance success in the Olympics this past winter.

One of the most insightful coaches in the game, Hannah Stolba speaks.

This included changing how hockey was played at the youngest levels, with an eye toward fun and also with an eye toward making the game more challenging.

One of the most intriguing pieces of information from Bennett's presentation was that when young players were asked to define "fun" they were very consistent along age groups and between boys and girls:

#3 path to FUN was a positive coaching experience.

#2 was a positive team environment

And #1 was perhaps a surprise to many. It wasn't winning, it wasn't pregame rituals, it wasn't travel or swag or trophies. It was ... that everyone tries hard. Trying hard is consistently the top driver of fun. The message is clear—players are there to compete and play.

Joe Bennett discussing the different levels of competition in USA Hockey.

So the Lesson Is

The lesson is, we're here to play. We're here to coach. We're hear to move the game forward. Trying hard matters. Trying hard makes it fun. If you're in a breakout session, use your voice. If the session is opening itself up for questions, ask questions.

And with the energy of Kevin Battle as USA Rugby's Community Director of Training and Education, working under Senior Director of Training and Education Jamie McGregor, there are plans for more of these conferences. They are worth your time.