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With The Coach: Keith Matthews
His passion for rugby is infectious
J.D. Gravenor
The Gazette
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Matthews talks to members of hte BHS senior boys' team. (ALLEN McINNIS/The Gazette)
With the Coach is a weekly series featuring a conversation with a local coach.
Coach: Keith Matthews, 45-year-old partner and portfolio manager with Tulett, Matthews and Associates. He lives in Beaconsfield.
Teams: Beaconsfield High School senior boys' team and the new Beaconsfield Rugby Football Club Junior Lions Program (ages 9-14)
Years coached: “Off and on for 25 years.”
Playing experience: Beaconsfield Rugby Football Club; Quebec provincial team (now called the Quebec Caribou); University of Western Ontario Mustangs; Toronto Saracens
When he first started CEGEP, Keith Matthews barely knew the difference between a scrum and rolling maul. In those days, rugby was a little-known sport in high schools; so he gravitated toward football, playing as a linebacker and captain of the defensive squad at John Abbott College in the mid-1980s.
It was around that time that the Beaconsfield native became aware that rugby was making a stir on campus, so he gave it a try. And he fell in love with it.
Now, after more than 25 years of competing and coaching the sport, Matthews and fellow rugby aficionado Jeff Ayoub are set to expand the under-18 Beaconsfield Rugby Football Club Lions to include players between 9 and 14.
Did you trade football for rugby?
Matthews: I did both sports at John Abbott, but when I went to university for my MBA, I focused on rugby. I never looked back. It’s an incredible sport.
How has the calibre of youth rugby changed over the years?
Matthews: The youth of today have better exposure to the sport. They have more dedicated coaches. And rugby is much more popular in high schools than it was 25 years ago.
How do you explain its growth?
Matthews: If you go back to the early ’80s, a lot of schools had football programs but not rugby. But with budget cutting – just look at the cost. In rugby you only need shorts, cleats, mouth guards and a passion for the sport. Find me another sport that a kid can play for $50.
How will you introduce young players to the sport when you start the new 9-14 BRFC Lions program?
Matthews: First you have to make sure it’s fun and the sport is easy to learn and they enjoy the experience. We’re going to see kids with various sporting backgrounds – hockey, football, soccer, swimming. Usually these kids have been coached before and they have a lot of enthusiasm. So we’ll break the sport down to its basics and build from there. Things like, what’s a rugby ball and how to pass one. We introduce contact in certain age groups in a controlled fashion. For kids that have enjoyed playing contact sports, either hockey or football, they will love rugby.
How have you learned to become a successful coach?
Matthews: Not only by playing the sport at the fun, social and very competitive levels, but also being exposed and being coached by many different coaches over the years. You learn to pick up what works and what generates enthusiasm for kids, techniques to help them improve, going to coaching clinics is instrumental in providing an ability to think structurally around how to run a good practice.
For more information on the new Lions program, contact keith@tma-invest.com or visit www.brfc.ca.