Welcome to P8N, the Performian blog
Welcome to P8N - the Performian blog. This is where we’ll aim to inform, edify and provoke thought through topics that are relevant to our purpose of supporting people, teams and organisations to outperform their goals.
Why P8N? Well, it’s a numeronym.
What’s a numeronym? It’s an abbreviation comprised wholly or partially of numbers; in this case, partially: All letters between the first and last letters of Performian have been replaced with the number of omitted letters to arrive at a numerical contraction: P8N. Neat? Maybe. Let’s move things along…
Yesterday, I had the privilege of attending the Rosslyn Park National Schools Sevens - the world’s largest school rugby tournament, sponsored by Howden (the tournament organisers use RPNS7 as their own form of alphanumeric abbreviation).
Five days… 1,270 teams… 4,670 matches
Since 1939, Rosslyn Park has organised and run the Schools Sevens Tournament. In 1939, sixteen schools participated; today, more than 15,000 boys and girls aged between 11-18 compete annually. This year, 1,270 teams played 4,670 matches over five days. It’s hard to describe how huge an event it is; but just walking from one end of the pitches to the other takes 25 minutes. Live-streamed over YouTube by the team at NextGenXV (NGXV), successfully staging an event of this magnitude shows serious organisational prowess.
For the last twelve years, I’ve been involved in the coaching of my daughter’s and son’s rugby teams; first with Abu Dhabi Harlequins, later with Haywards Heath Rugby Football Club. As anyone who’s coached junior sport will attest, it can be a hugely rewarding endeavour. It gives you the chance to play a part (however small) in the development of young lives and witness the evolution of their skills. The esprit du corps that emerges amongst players, parents, siblings and coaches through shared experiences at training, during festivals, in matches and on tour has also cemented some incredibly close friendships.
In the last couple of years, I switched focus from coaching to refereeing. It was in this capacity that I attended Rosslyn Park yesterday - overseeing eight matches of U11s sevens matches. It was a long day for the players and their families; some of the teams having travelled from as far away as Cheshire, Somerset and Yorkshire. The England Rugby Football Union (RFU) have made enormous strides in opening up rugby to the masses through Age Grade Rugby, which gradually exposes players to more laws of the game, bigger team and pitch sizes, etc. They also place five core values at the heart of player development to make the game special for those who enjoy the environment and culture they create: Teamwork, Respect, Enjoyment, Discipline and Sportsmanship (TREDS).
The U11s are the youngest age group to play at Rosslyn Park, but around official duties I got the chance to watch some matches across the other age groups, including the girls and boys U18s finals. Strikingly, the core values were clearly on display across the entire tournament. But what really stood out was the combination of individual and team skill on display, and how this deepened as the players’ age group increased. This is testament to years of hard work: training in all weathers; learning about the game; playing, winning and losing against rivals; developing a style of play; building friendships…
Of course, the players put in the really hard yards over the years and earn their accolades quite literally through blood, sweat and tears. But it doesn’t happen by accident, and for this, the coaching teams from all those teams deserve huge credit. Guiding player development; teaching them the laws of the game; developing winning tactics; instilling discipline and a team ethic. All the ingredients for a high-performing team.
There were some tired, happy faces as we left Rosslyn Park at sunset yesterday. Ideal conditions to reflect on the parallels between the commitment to excellence in grassroots sport and what we aim to achieve through our work at Performian.
