I was introduced to Sean in 2001 when I was appointed as North Gloucestershire Rugby Development Officer, based in Gloucester. Sean was then Director of Rugby at Hartpury College and was instrumental in the move of the RFU Rugby Development Office from the City council offices to Hartpury.
During my time as RDO Sean was commissioned to present at some local seminars and coach development programmes. As a consequence of his exceptional presentation skills and content construction & delivery Sean was then invited to present at the South West Coaching Conference in Bristol. His delivery was so well received that he was asked to present on two further occasions, including the after dinner speech.
In my role as Coach Development Officer for the South and South West I suggested that Sean deliver at the annual South Coaching Evening at Newbury. At that time Sean was Head Coach at The Ospreys, and although highly regarded in Wales was largely unknown in England. Despite some reluctance and a good deal of persuasion on my part Sean was invited to deliver, and went down a storm. Feedback was very positive and because of my suggestion, my credibility was enhanced considerably. I believe it was from that presentation that the demand for Sean’s presentation took off.
In addition to delivering on various “Teacher Days” throughout the country, Sean also presented at other regional coaching conferences and then at the International Coaching Conference at Twickenham in 2007.
Sean was also engaged in the delivery of the Level 4 Qualification Programme for elite and performance coaches.
Sean’s educational background, sense of humour, common sense approach and wealth of knowledge has combined to make him an exceptional presenter. He has the ability to engage people very quickly and maintains this through an obvious passion for and understanding of the subject, relevant and interesting anecdotes, well-timed humour and clear messages.
His ability to switch on players is outstanding – even those he has only just met, and he very quickly gets the best out of them through his personality and their desire to work for him. Even the most experienced coaches have commented on and learnt from this exceptional attribute.
Man management, rugby skills, tactics and understanding, programme construction and delivery, coaching philosophy are all presentations at which Sean would excel.
I believe that Sean is one of the very presenters it has been my pleasure to witness and I would not hesitate to recommend him for conferences, seminars or development workshops.