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Kim’s the man for county coaching set-up
Kim Norkett is employed by Welsh Rugby Union as the Community Rugby Development Manager for Pembrokeshire and District and after 11 years in the job he still enjoys working with the talented young players and the Pembrokeshire rugby clubs who nurture them.
Kim got the job when Welsh Rugby turned professional (his title then was ‘District H Director of Rugby’ but he prefers his current title since it implies exactly what he does – work with the rugby community to bring out the best in the large number of young players who are growing up in Pembrokeshire, up as far as Aberystwyth and Aberaeron, across to Cardigan and Crymych and over to Narberth and Whitland.
His role is to manage rugby at under 25 level, youth and junior, making sure that the allocated budget from the WRU is well spent, managing Ken Davies and Gareth Williams as the respective Youth Development Officers for Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion, organising coaching courses and coach development for all other coaches in the area and ensuring players have every opportunity to enhance their skills.
Good pedigree
It is good to report that Kim has a good pedigree as player and coach, starting off when he made his debut as scrum half for Newport when he was a schoolboy and played alongside top players like forwards Jeff Squire and Jeff Evans, plus centre David Burcher.
From there he attended Durham University and not only played for the college but represented the English Universities, England under 23s, British Universities, captaining the first two and also Durham County, as well as turning out regularly for Newcastle/Gosforth.
When he moved back to Wales he joined Eddie Butler at Pontypool but David Bishop was released from prison half way through the campaign and rather than play second fiddle to the Welsh No 9 he turned down offers from Bath and Nottingham to join Ebbw Vale, which was nearby. Kim had four happy seasons there and during his stint skipper both Gwent and Powys in inter-county matches as he taught rugby at Christ College, Brecon.
Bad news, good news
But then he damaged a knee and after five operations decided to retire and concentrate on his coaching, moving to Stonyhouse College, between Blackburn and Preston, where Kieran Bracken and Ian Balshaw passed through his hands. He also coached the North of England in representative games but the call of Wales was strong and he was delighted when he applied for, and was offered, the Director of Coaching job in Pembrokeshire.
Kim would be the first to admit that it wasn’t all plain sailing because some clubs were of the old school and felt that they could look after their own coaching set up but Kim showed patience and gradually the clubs have joined him in setting up strong and well-qualified coaching groups who do superb jobs with their young charges. On average, Kim spends a day each week at meetings in Cardiff and would readily admit that the paperwork has grown immensely and now keeps him busy during the evenings.
Rightly proud
He is rightly proud of the fact that the Australian-style Finals Day has been a great success and sings the praises of Ken and Gareth, District H rep Johnny Jones, Phil Thompson (Chevron) and Mike Fry, who has been the chairman throughout. The youth league is the strongest in Wales, with 13 of the 15 teams participating, whilst Pembrokeshire and District has the only under 16 league across its area. Add the fact that seven of the clubs now run the full gamut of teams from under seven to first XV and it is easy to see why Kim Norkett is so proud of his set-up.
During his time at the helm he has seen talented players like Jonathan Thomas, Tal Selley, Mike Phillips and Nathan Williams come through alongside players of enormous potential like Jonathan Davies, Lloyd Phillips, Simon Gardiner and Aled Thomas come through.
Highlights
He still loves coaching at the older end of the junior scale and says that the Finals Day typifies all that is good about junior rugby in the county since the field is swarming with talented young players from eight to 16 years of age, plus all their families and friends. It takes a great deal of organising but at the end of the day it is a showcase event for rugby in Pembrokeshire. One of the other undoubted highlights was when he coached the Welsh sevens team to the quarter finals of the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, where they lost 8-7 to Australia. But he also enjoys being out on the training pitch with his young charges in Pembrokeshire. He knows every one of them by name and is involved with their parents and clubs - and nothing gives him more pleasure than seeing his adopted county do well against teams from other counties ‘up the line’.
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