First Trial of the Player Development Program by the Japan Rugby Football Playersʼ Association

There is growing academic and practical interest in mental health and wellbeing care systems for elite athletes, including rugby players. Concerns about career transition and its maladaptation are one of the athlete-related factors for mental health problems. The Player Development Program (PDP), which has been implemented mainly in New Zealand, Australia and Europe etc., is a system that supports elite athletes from multiple perspectives while they are active players. According to international practice reports and papers, PDP can also contribute to improving performance. We documented the practice and the feedback of the PDP conducted by the Japan Rugby Football Playersʼ Association (JRPA) as a “Research Note”. In the current practice, from December 2020 to October 2021, we matched 11 active Japanese rugby players and 11 Player Development managers (PDM) in a one-to-one setting to provide an opportunity to speak online once a month. During the period, 10 out of 11 pairs completed the trial. From the feedback after the 10-month practice, the satisfaction of the players was high, and the PDMs answered that it was necessary for active players. Future challenges for promoting the PDP in the Japanese sports society are the specification of PDP in Japan, securing financial resources for the operation, and securing PDM human resources.