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02
Jul 2023
Harrogate head coach hoping to turn around rugby club's fortunes
From Japan to New Zealand, Sam Fox’s love affair with rugby union has taken him around the world.
As early as he can remember, he recalls being taken to his local rugby club in Cornwall with his dad where he would kick balls into the river.
These days, he’s tasked with leading Harrogate Rugby Club as head coach.
While most sportsmen tend to swap the pitch for the touchline after retirement, Sam had his eye on coaching well before his last kick of a rugby ball.
He hopes his ambition for improving players and Harrogate as a whole will bear fruit in the coming years.
Taking rugby abroad
Sam grew up in Cornwall and has been playing rugby since he was three-years-old.
The love for rugby was bred from an early age. His dad was an ex-England schoolboys player and his mum a big supporter of the sport.
At 16, he went to college in Truro and started playing for Exeter Chiefs RUFC where he spent his formative years in the academy.
His most memorable experience was spending time in New Zealand after a stint in Japan, where he played in a world championships.
Sam played for Wellington Lions under-19s alongside guys who would go onto elite rugby.
However, it was the developmental side that caught Sam’s eye and led him onto a career path in coaching.
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The standard of rugby at Wellington was high.
Sam was lucky enough to count Thomas and Peter Umaga-Jensen as teammates. Both are nephews of former All Blacks captain, Tana Umaga. He said:
Returning home to study
Sam returned to England in 2017 and enrolled at Leeds Beckett University.
It was here that he started to embark on his ambition for improving players and started to study sports coaching alongside playing for Harrogate.
About three years ago, Sam says he accepted that he was not going to make it as a professional player.
For Sam, coaching is a craft and something that can be explored beyond just teaching players how to play rugby.
There is academic theory behind it and the application of that theory when it comes to improving players.
But it’s also about relationships with people and those that work with you on a weekly basis.
Sam Fox playing for Harrogate Rugby Club.
Alongside his colleague Aled Jones, Sam launched the academy at Harrogate.
From there, he was made head coach of the first team for the 2021/22 season.
Harrogate were promoted to the Northern Premier League during the season which was effected by the covid pandemic.
However, the last campaign saw Harrogate relegated after a 24-12 loss to Tynedale.
For Sam, his squad, which had an average age of 22, lacked the experience to see games out. However, he added there was a lot the team could take into next season.
Preparation for next season has started in earnest.
Promotion will be the aim, but for Sam it will also be about improving the players enough so that they can maintain themselves in the next division.
Improving players is a thread that runs through much of Sam’s philosophy.
From setting up the academy with Aled to drawing up a curriculum for the younger players, much of the emphasis is on creating a squad that starts at Harrogate and, hopefully, finishes there.
This is the fifth article in a series of Sporting Spotlight interviews. If you have any local sporting heroes who you think should be featured, contact calvin@thestrayferret.co.uk.
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