The Holcroft saga, a rugby story the like of which, may never have been equalled in the history of the game. It begins over a century ago, when Mr. George Holcroft, was given charge of Leigh St. Peters R.L.F.C. in 1889. He married and when his family grew up, Jack, Harry, William and Tom all played for local teams. They married and George's grandsons Bert and Bill also played. Bert Holcroft has been a distinguished servant for the game of Rugby all his life. He holds coaching certificates from BOTH the Australian and British governing bodies - one of only a handful of men to achieve such an honour in the game's history. For 20-odd years Bert Holcroft has had one of the unlikeliest jobs in sport - teaching Australian Rugby Coaches how to coach! Considering the Australian dominance of World Rugby in recent years, that might seem a par with taking coal to Newcastle. But make no mistake, Bert Holcroft has done as much as anyone to ensure Australia's re-emergence as a major Rugby power. On the face of it, Australia wouldn't seem to need any outside help, let alone from a Pom. Their record of only one Test defeat since 1978 speaks for itself. But Bert's reputation is nation-wide "down under" - quite simply he's one of the best in the business. Bert, who played for Leigh between 1950-60, has spent much of his latter years Down Under lecturing to top-grade coaches in New South Wales. Born and bred in Cameron Street, Leigh, Bert has few peers when it comes to teaching the basics of the 13 a side game. Since emigrating in the late 60's, Bert has dedicated his life to coaching and fitness techniques. Teams in Queensland, New South Wales and Sydney have all come under his influence - often with spectacular results. Bert's credentials are impeccable. Last summer, he achieved the highest accolade in Australia - his Grade Three certificate personally signed by the then Australian league chairman Kevin Humphreys and the Director of Coaching, Peter Corcoran. Three years earlier, Bert has sailed through his Grade One and Two with flying colours. In 1953, he was awarded his senior coaching certificate in England. Bert, who held a number of posts at Hilton Park before emigrating to Australia, has spent a lot of his time heavily involved with Rugby in the universities there. He became director of coaching for the University of New South Wales and later coach of the Combined Universities side. Coaching Accreditation awarded by the Australian Institute of Sport, Department of Sport and Recreation NSW and the NSW Rugby League for administration, as well as being awarded National Coaching Certificates in both Britain and Australia - one of only a handful of people to do so. Eventually the offer of a job in Sydney came - to coach Premiership glamorous club, Eastern Suburbs.

The Holcroft saga is a rugby story the like of which may never have been equaled in the history of the game. It begins over a century ago, when Mr. George Holcroft took charge of Leigh St. Peters RLFC in 1889. He married; and when his family grew, Jack, Harry, William, and Tom all played for local teams. They married, and George’s grandsons Bert and Bill also played. Bert Holcroft has been a distinguished servant for the game of rugby all his life. He holds coaching certificates from both the Australian and British governing bodies—one of only a handful of men to achieve such an honor in the game’s history. For twenty odd years, Bert Holcroft has had one of the unlikeliest jobs in sport—teaching Australian rugby coaches how to coach! Considering the Australian dominance in the World Rugby in recent years, that might seem par with taking coal to Newcastle. But make no mistake, Bert Holcroft has done as much as anyone to ensure Australia’s reemergence as a major rugby power. On the face of it, Australia wouldn’t seem to need any outside help, let alone from a Pom. Their record of only one test defeat since 1978 speaks for itself. But Bert’s reputation is nationwide “down under”—quite simply, he’s one of the best in the business. Bert, who played for Leigh between 1950–60, has spent much of his latter years Down Under, lecturing to top-grade coaches in New South Wales. Born and bred in Cameron Street, Leigh, Bert has few peers when it comes to teaching the basics of the 13, a side game. Since migrating in the late ’60s, Bert has dedicated his life to coaching and fitness techniques. Teams in Queensland, New South Wales, and Sydney have all come under his influence—often with spectacular results. Bert’s credentials are impeccable. Last summer, he achieved the highest accolade in Australia—his grade 3 certificate personally signed by the then Australian league chairman Kevin Humphreys and the director of coaching, Peter Corcoran. Three years earlier, Bert has sailed through his grade 1 and 2 with flying colors. In 1953, he was awarded his senior coaching certificate in England. Bert, who held a number of posts at Hilton Park before immigrating to Australia, has spent a lot of his time heavily involved with rugby in the universities there. He became director of coaching for the University of New South Wales and later coach of the Combined Universities side. He was awarded coaching accreditation by the Australian Institute of Sport, Department of Sport and Recreation, New South Wales, and the NSW Rugby League for administration, as well as national coaching certificates in both Britain and Australia—being one of only a handful of people to do so. Eventually, the offer of a job in Sydney came—to coach Premiership glamorous club, Eastern Suburbs.

The modern day youth sports environment has taken the enjoyment out of athletics for our children. Currently, 70% of kids drop out of organized sports by the age of 13, which has given rise to a generation of overweight, unhealthy young adults. There is a solution. John O’Sullivan shares the secrets of the coaches and parents who have not only raised elite athletes, but have done so by creating an environment that promotes positive core values and teaches life lessons instead of focusing on wins and losses, scholarships, and professional aspirations. Changing the Game gives adults a new paradigm and a game plan for raising happy, high performing children, and provides a national call to action to return youth sports to our kids.

"Scott and David have done a fantastic job getting into the psyche of these very young players. What I really love is their emphasis on FUN, and that kids learn by DOING. This book will make a great extra assistant as you prepare for your season."—Bobby Clark, Head Soccer Coach, University of Notre Dame; author of the best-selling Coaching Youth Soccer: The Baffled Parent's Guide Coach. You're the new coach of your child's soccer team, and you're not sure how to teach your players the fundamentals of soccer while also ensuring they have fun. Don't panic—Coaching 6-and-Under Soccer is here to help. Coaching 6-and-Under Soccer offers straightforward advice, tips, and techniques, including reward-based games and drills; your first six practices in an easy-to-photocopy format; and how to teach soccer basics to 4-, 5-, and 6-year-olds in ways that are fun for you and your players. This complete tool kit for a new coach includes: The twelve easy-to-run drills that work best with young soccer players How to keep your young players happy and active while they learn How to make parents your best assistants and supporters How to keep the focus where it belongs—not on winning or losing, but on having fun How to have a terrific time coaching young players "Coaching 6-and-Under Soccer shows you how to teach your young players the right way—through lively games that encourage kids to use their creativity and self-expression when playing."—Brandi Chastain, Olympic and World Cup Soccer Champion; author of It's Not About the Bra: Play Hard, Play Fair, and Put the Fun Back into Competitive Sports "I have no doubt that young players will come to love the game of soccer if their coaches follow the simple, straightforward advice in this book."—Anson Dorrance, Head Women's Soccer Coach, University of North Carolina; author of The Vision of a Champion: Advice and Inspiration from the World's Most Successful Women's Soccer Coach "I highly recommend this terrific book to coaches who want to instill good sportsmanship and the love of the game in their young players while building a solid foundation in basic soccer skills and teamwork."—Jeremy Gunn, Head Men's Soccer Coach, Fort Lewis College

THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION Champions do extra. They sweep the sheds. They follow the spearhead. They keep a blue head. They are good ancestors. In Legacy, best-selling author James Kerr goes deep into the heart of the world's most successful sporting team, the legendary All Blacks of New Zealand, to reveal 15 powerful and practical lessons for leadership and business. Legacy is a unique, inspiring handbook for leaders in all fields, and asks: What are the secrets of success - sustained success? How do you achieve world-class standards, day after day, week after week, year after year? How do you handle pressure? How do you train to win at the highest level? What do you leave behind you after you're gone? What will be your legacy?

Developed from celebrated Harvard statistics lectures, Introduction to Probability provides essential language and tools for understanding statistics, randomness, and uncertainty. The book explores a wide variety of applications and examples, ranging from coincidences and paradoxes to Google PageRank and Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC). Additional application areas explored include genetics, medicine, computer science, and information theory. The print book version includes a code that provides free access to an eBook version. The authors present the material in an accessible style and motivate concepts using real-world examples. Throughout, they use stories to uncover connections between the fundamental distributions in statistics and conditioning to reduce complicated problems to manageable pieces. The book includes many intuitive explanations, diagrams, and practice problems. Each chapter ends with a section showing how to perform relevant simulations and calculations in R, a free statistical software environment.

Filling an important gap in performance analysis literature, this book introduces the key concepts and practical applications of performance analysis for team sports. It draws on cutting-edge research to examine individual and collective behaviours across an array of international team sports. Evidencing the close relationship between coaching and performance analysis, it promotes a better understanding of the crucial role of performance analysis in team sports for achieving successful results. This book not only presents a variety of different ways to analyse performance in team sports, but also demonstrates how scientific data can be used to enrich performance analysis. Part one delineates the main guidelines for research in performance analysis, discussing the characteristics of team sports, coaching processes, variables characterizing performance and methods for team member interaction analysis. Part two drills down into performance analysis across a range of team sports including soccer, basketball, handball, ice hockey, volleyball and rugby. Performance Analysis in Team Sports is an essential companion for any course or research project on sports performance analysis or sports coaching, and an invaluable reference for professional analysts.

What do world-class teams do that others don't? How do those teams think, make decisions and respond to challenges? Stronger Together will help readers to understand what differentiates world-class teams from the rest. Using these insights, readers can apply the same key principles when leading - or being a part of - a team, whether they are in a business or sports environment. To illustrate how world-class teams operate and how they're led, the author draws on examples of teamwork from a diverse range of disciplines, from The Red Arrows to SAS Units, a Formula One Pit Crew, Americas Cup yacht crews, World Championship sports teams and more. He includes case studies from his work with elite professional, international and Olympic sports teams, plus executive leadership teams from businesses. This truly insightful and fascinating book lifts the lid on what it takes to be the best and how we can translate these lessons to our own performance.

This manual, TRADOC Pamphlet TP 600-4 The Soldier's Blue Book: The Guide for Initial Entry Soldiers August 2019, is the guide for all Initial Entry Training (IET) Soldiers who join our Army Profession. It provides an introduction to being a Soldier and Trusted Army Professional, certified in character, competence, and commitment to the Army. The pamphlet introduces Solders to the Army Ethic, Values, Culture of Trust, History, Organizations, and Training. It provides information on pay, leave, Thrift Saving Plans (TSPs), and organizations that will be available to assist you and your Families. The Soldier's Blue Book is mandated reading and will be maintained and available during BCT/OSUT and AIT.This pamphlet applies to all active Army, U.S. Army Reserve, and the Army National Guard enlisted IET conducted at service schools, Army Training Centers, and other training activities under the control of Headquarters, TRADOC.