Rugby, family and values

Back after a week away - did you miss me..?!  

Family commitments took priority last week with my 94 year old dad visiting for the weekend. On my drive to Huddersfield to pick him up I drove past Greenhead Park on the outskirts of the town, the home of the Huddersfield parkrun - judging by the number of people it seemed like quite a big event to me. I will be doing that one with my brother next weekend.

My alternative to parkrun last week was an afternoon with my dad watching 3 fantastic games of international rugby on the tellie. First it was the rugby league world cup semi final between England and Samoa (boy what a game!), followed by Scotland v Australia and Wales v New Zealand playing the other code. 

For me watching international rugby is as close to heaven as I'll probably ever get! I sometimes wish I could have been a better player - sadly I was never strong or aggressive enough to go much further than playing for the school team. I did play a bit at college and even turned out for Loughborough 4ths on a few occasions during my Masters study year. One time I recall playing a game in Nottingham - I was in the second row, head down pushing towards the try line with the opposition firmly in retreat. What appeared to be the try line suddenly appeared at my feet; I promptly dropped on the ball and began celebrating, thinking I had scored the match winning try, at which point, to my great surprise, the opposition pack piled on top of me. It was only then I realised that what I thought was the try line was actually the 5 metre line, so the ball was still in play. Embarrassing to say the least!

I don't think I was picked for the next game - or maybe I was unavailable, I can't quite remember. From that moment I decided to stick to basketball and cricket, and of course running - I was a bit better at those, but not much. Remind me to tell you a couple of stories from my involvement in those sports at some point - hopefully they will make you smile..

For me rugby is amongst the greatest of sports, partly because of its values - much better than football which has so much wrong with it, mainly due to the amount of money involved and the complete lack of decent values. 

I've been teaching my students about the organisational values over the past couple of weeks. We've been looking at successful global organisations like Disney, Apple and parkrun (of course!), considering the contribution that values have made to their success. Some of the students  struggled to see the relevance, while others (generally the brighter, more reflective, open minded ones it has to be said) really seemed to get it.  

When I interviewed Tom Williams from parkrun last year he spoke about the importance of their values of respect, inclusivity, accessibility, socially impactful, collaboration and trustworthiness. Clearly these values are part - a big part I would suggest - of parkrun's enduring success. 

Family and rugby once again took priority this weekend, so no parkrun for a second week running (if that's not a contradiction in terms!). Ailsa needed my help at home and there was also the small matter of the rugby league world cup final to watch - another epic game of rugby played in a fantastic spirit by 2 great teams - shame about the result but the sport was undoubtedly the winner.. 

Until next time - happy parkrunning.. Please leave any comments below.