q & a with chris honor

Thanks Ed, so I'm Chris Honor, a biomechanics and performance coach based in Manchester, currently working with Richardson Sport out of the National Taekwondo Centre.

In addition to this I am also involved in Rugby League Development through my new business venture Manchester Rugby Coaching which launched in January 2023, to help grow the game of Rugby League on the back of some work i did consulting with Leeds Rhinos Foundation.

The strange thing is that I actually came into coaching without really thinking about it. My dad was in the Military and we were living in Gibraltar at the time where there was not really a pathway for me to continue playing football so i dabbled in refereeing and coaching under Alex Armstrong, formerly of Cardiff City and Southampton.

It wasn't until I came back to the UK to study at the Rutland College that my journey really began by simply emailing clubs and visiting development centres located at the college campus.

At 16 I thought id hit the jackpot by doing work experience at Leicester City in the Community, the club i support and then my real break came with Cambridge United. At Cambridge, Ii was thrust into the delivery of schools coaching, shadowing in the old centre of excellence and even looked after the Womens team at aged 17. This was a person who was told you will never play football and youll never become a coach.

With all due respect, I have worked ith over 20 professional teams from community to first team level in both the mens and womens game. My roles have included community officer, strength and conditioning coach, scout, manager and head of recruitment. 

t takes a lot of hard graft and networking to be in the privileged position i am now and it's fair to say that you really have to know how much you want something if you want to get there.

At Harrogate Railway we had Josh Windass in the team that was managed by Billy Miller and more recently through my work with Wayne Richardson at Richardson Sport, I have supported him with academy players and some players including Pappis Cisse, Ian Henderson amongst others. But being located at GB Taekwondo's facility we regularly rub shoulders with the Taekwondo athletes who are really good people to talk to.

On a coaching side, have been fortunate to work alongside the likes of Frank Sinclair, former Chelsea and Leicester, Dave Raven, ex Liverpool and Carlisle and Darren Kelly, current sporting director of Newport County.

There are also a couple of really exciting things in the pipeline which is confidential at present, where myself and Wayne are working on a project that will chage alot of lives in sport, so keep an eye out on my socials to find out more. @chris_richardsonsport on Instagram and @mcrrugbycoaching.

Rugby League is played by 13 players and Union 15.

Union is more of an established sport and recognised nationwide where as league is mainly up north.

The other noticeable difference is that after each tackle in league, the opposition has to retreat and wait for the dummy half to offload the pass before the defending team can press to challenge for the ball. In union its a lot more continual; a tackle is made, the player offers the ball and his team mate collects and drives towards the opposition line.

Personally, I prefer league. Having played both and both codes are really good for general life skills such as decision making, enhancing movement quality and patterns, discipline, reactions, the list goes on. A sport that has certainly warmed my heart and most importantly the Rugby League Community is second to none

I would say the opportunities available down south are limited, so potential players would have to commute to play and i think a lot of it comes down to history as well. If you look at the biggest clubs in both codes, you have Wigan and Leeds and then you have Leicester and Harlequins, with the main exception being Sale as a club who are a northern club who have come on leaps and bounds over the years.

The location of the governing bodies could be a reason as the RFU i believe are based at Twickenham and the RFL in Manchester.

IIts understanding your why.

Are you doing it because you want to or are you following the crowd?

By understanding the above should motivate you to educate and find out what it is you need to achieve your wanting to keep body fats low.

Keeping stress levels to a minimum, ensuring that your environment is one that you enjoy and thrive in, and of course having he right people around you who you can bounce off and get the best from each other to excel in your chosen path.

If i am being completely honest, it was in lockdown, my gym had to close and I didn't know what to do with myself.

The cost of clothes seems to be going up all the time and i got a bit body concious when i went from a large to a xxl in a certain brand. The scary thing was my weight wasn't shifting or my body image so decided to buy a heat press and do some research on how to build a clothing brand. I also enlisted the help of some up-and-coming athletes from Portugal, ireland and England through the power of Linked In.

Being a regular visitor to Body Power as it was I would always see clothing brands but the quality wasn't that great, then when I saw what Ben Francis had done with Gym Shark then the likes of Alphalete through Christian Guzman, I would watch their videos on Youtube and draw inspiration whilst also keeping to my routes of Sport and keeping that though using Footballers initially as my avatar but truth be told, its not been an easy journey with that.

Matt is a great guy and I initially met Matt through a coffee company, one of these pyramid marketing schemes and we kept in touch. Bizarrely we both completed our Personal Trainer course together without even realising until the day.

Matt and I speak regularly and its been great to see how he has gone fro his work with banking to now supporting others such as yourself, Ed, and getting incredible results. 

That is testament to the hard yards and not being afraid to put himself out there. Knowing his why.

Thanks Ed, that started a few year back when I wanted to get an insight into the life experiences of athletes past and present and also coaches. Podcasts are always something I enjoy listening to and the main ones being Mark Coles Mastery Podcast, High Performance Podcast, Diary of a CEO and then Football Fitness Federation podcast. 

The great thing about podcasts, is that we all like to speak about ourselves and also learn about and from others. But the best thing is the networking element and by reaching out to most of my guests through Linked in, i have spoke to former Leicester players that I never though possible such as, Matt Piper and Danny Thomas through my former branding of Train With Honor TV. 

Speaking with top coaches such as Rachel France, now Thompson, Sam Portland and others can only inspire you and to be in the company of those who's work you respect and learn from is truly a priveledge.

Now under the rebrand of Athletic Development UK Podcast,  have been speaking with coaches both domestically and abroad on topics such as mindset, managing the female athlete's performance and much more exciting chats to come.

The best place is Instagram @chris_richardsonsport and @mcrrugbycoaching and if youd like to check out the podcast it is Athletic Development UK on Facebook and YouTube