I started a new sports project this Summer a fun exercise in project management and coaching. A short project in real terms, and a great opportunity to to test and explore some project management methodologies.
The sport is rugby (you do not have to be a sports lover, or rugby aficionado to engage with this exercise). The team is OMBAC Rugby, and the project outcomes are better players to achieve better results. This project lifecycle spans the 2022 National Qualifier 7s series.
Initiation:
There has been very little in depth initiation. More a case of "let's do this" as
"it's something we always do". Whilst the parent organization and executive support the project, they "don't want too much success" as the national qualifying tournaments could be too expensive.
Using the project concept canvas, I have crystallized the outcomes into a clear scope of requirements with some stretch goals.
Plan (and deliver):
Planning is running concurrently with delivery so agility is critical.
Deliverables for this project include, but are not limited to,
- two fit for purpose teams,
- a clear presence in the finals of 3 tournaments and 1 outright win to get to "Nationals,"
- performances commensurate with the desired status of the organization,
- player retention (a desire to continue, uninjured, into the second half of the year for the next round of games).
This has allowed me one true week of planning to incorporate player and team profiling. So, I have split the planning into 2 phases - planning for preparation (phase 1) and planning for performance (phase 2).
Currently in phase 1, at the time of writing, I have on the table:
1 - one athlete development program. At the time of writing, nine two-hour sessions to test and train and achieve competency levels.
2 - 24 athletes with a broad spectrum of ability. All motivated. (Using Hershey and Blanchard modeling the athletes fall into two silos "willing and able" and "willing and unable"
3 - standard equipment (no specialist equipment or technical support)
4 - one coach (scrum master - me)
4a - one leadership group (after the first 2 sessions I defined the leadership group aka the development team, to help with fundamentals and standard operating procedures for both on-field and off-field activity)
5 - leadership development program with a focus on communication, delegation, planning and execution. (This is aligned with 4a to design and implement project outputs, which in turn helps the development team and other stakeholders, the players, be successful in their roles. Using Hershey and Blanchard, are on the continuum of "willing and able" to "willing and unable").
6 - facilities: public park and beach space for all training sessions; we do not own any private facilities, nor do we have extraneous budget for hiring third party facilities.
7 - almost no margin of error for injury attrition. (Not only do I have to regulate training to cover contact related risks; I have discovered over time, that many athletes will not invest in proper footwear - football cleats in general do not serve rugby requirements - nor proper mouthguards - there's a whole range of reasons from cultural to financial. So, some of them are a liability to themselves and the team.
As an experienced realist I say that ultimately we will deliver one competitive team and one social team playing in appropriate tiers. How do I feel about the rest?
The optimist says we will win one tournament and qualify for "Nationals."
The pessimist says we will struggle to gain ground owing to time and scope constraints.
The unicorn says we will compete in the National Finals.
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