England go for top Drawer
SCOTT DRAWER – Deputy Director of Performance Solutions at the English Institute of Sport – is joining the Rugby Football Union as Athletic Performance Manager.
Drawer (right), who starts on February 1, 2014, will be responsible for the co-ordination and delivery of sports science and medicine programmes across the men’s and women’s international performance teams (Saxons, Under-20s and Sevens) outside the England Senior Elite Player Squad.
England Head Coach Stuart Lancaster said: “We are continuing to build a world class performance team and Scott is the latest addition to that. Matt Parker (RFU Head of Athletic Performance) has made a big impact with the senior team in the 12 months he has been with us and Scott will likewise make a significant difference with players and teams in the age grade programmes. He has a massive amount of experience and expertise in a wide range of Olympic sports and we are delighted to have him on board as we build towards 2015 and beyond.”
Joe Lydon, the RFU’s Head of International Player Development, said: “To recruit someone of Scott’s calibre to work across our men’s and women’s teams is a massive boost. He will bring continuity and consistency to our player development programmes and we are extremely pleased to have secured someone of his quality, standing and experience.”
Matt Parker added: “Scott has a worldwide reputation for his work in elite sport. His knowledge and experience of high performance environments and successful performance pathways will help us to continue to develop our practices to ensure a player’s performance and availability is maximised for both his or her representative team and their club. Scott will work closely with the Aviva Premiership clubs, the Academies, and other clubs where England players or potential England players may be based, to help ensure the development of the players is optimised for both club and country.”
Scott Drawer said: “After 12 years in the GB high performance Olympic and Paralympic system, which is one of the world’s leading research and innovation programmes, I am excited about the opportunity to bring these skills to the RFU.
“In the past decade I have been fortunate to have been surrounded by world class people in UK Sport, the British Olympic Association and Paralympics GB in support of our athletes. I feel blessed to have been given the opportunity to grow a programme from nothing to something and to have been a small cog in a historic Games in London.
“The chance to take these experiences and insights into the RFU in a new domain is an exciting one and I look forward to working with the clubs as we seek to build a sustainable high performance pathway that will be the envy of the world across the sporting world.”
Scott Drawer
After joining UK Sport in 2000, Scott was responsible for leading the Research & Innovation team in a diverse range of projects in science, medicine and technology to support British athletes on the world stage across five summer and winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. These projects covered the design, development and manufacture of high-end competition equipment through to projects to minimise the risk of injury and illness to athletes.
Following the transfer of the Research and Innovation team to the English Institute of Sport (EIS) – the Science, Medicine and Technology arm of UK Sport – in August 2013, Scott’s remit as Deputy Director of Performance Solutions was widened to include the development of more effective performance planning on offer to Olympic and Paralympic sports to enable wider benefit of the unique science, medicine and technology capabilities within the UK.
Prior to UK Sport, he spent three years providing performance analysis and technology support and services across a host of team and individual sports. This involved the application of leading edge technologies to develop key performance data for coaches to inform tactics, technique and strategic development of individual athletic skill.
He has degrees from Brunel and Nottingham Trent universities and an MSc and PhD from Loughborough University.
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