Meet Mike Baxter: One Year of Game Changer Rugby at Hartley Farm

It’s been just over a year since Mike Baxter opened the doors to Game Changer Rugby here at Hartley Farm.

A former professional Bath player and Scotland Sevens representative, Mike spent almost 15 years working in private schools, coaching rugby and running sports programmes, before deciding to put that experience into something of his own. The result is Game Changer Rugby: a dedicated rugby development business based here at Hartley, offering one-to-one coaching, small group sessions, academy training and holiday camps for young players at every stage of the game.

But for Mike, it has always been about more than simply developing better rugby players.

“I want to build the all-round athlete,” he says. “Even if they don’t make it, or however far they go in rugby, they’ve got great foundations for being a healthier and more confident young man or young woman.”

From coaching to going it alone

Starting his own business wasn’t always part of the plan. After years spent working as a Head of Rugby and later Director of Sport, Mike began to think more seriously about finding a different balance between work and life.

He had previously run some one-to-one coaching alongside completing his rugby qualifications and remembered it as one of the happiest periods of his working life. Eventually, the idea of building something for himself began to make sense. Fast forward a year and Mike says the change has been a positive one.

“I’m a much happier person,” he says.

Game Changer is open to players with very different levels of experience, from children who may only have started playing a few months ago to those already involved in academy pathways. Creating an environment where everyone feels comfortable enough to learn is central to Mike’s approach.

Finding a home at Hartley

Game Changer’s arrival at Hartley came about through another new business finding a home here.

Mike’s wife, Jess, was looking for a space for The Learning Tree Day Nursery and began conversations with Tom at Hartley Farm about taking on one of the available units. During those conversations, Jess happened to mention that Mike was also looking for somewhere to base his new rugby coaching business. Mike joined one of the meetings, Tom showed him another space nearby and, from there, things quickly fell into place and today The Learning Tree Day Nursery and Game Changer Rugby sit next door to one another at Hartley Farm.

The space Mike first saw looked very different from the training centre it has become.

“It was just a shell to start with,” he says.

What had been a warehouse filled with shelving was transformed into an indoor rugby training centre, complete with artificial grass similar to the surfaces used on rugby pitches around the country, RFU-accredited space for contact training, safety matting and a dedicated gym area. The indoor setup has also proved particularly useful when the British weather does what it does best.

“When it’s raining like this, this is where you want to come and train,” Mike laughs.

Building more than rugby skills

A typical week at Game Changer changes depending on the time of year.

During the school holidays, Mike can be coaching from 9am through until early evening, combining one-to-one sessions with larger holiday camps. In term time, much of the coaching happens after school, with one-to-one sessions and academy groups running into the evening.

Those academy sessions combine an hour of athletic development in the gym with an hour of rugby skills work, reflecting Mike’s belief that young players benefit from developing more than just their ability with the ball. He also spends time practising the skills he teaches himself.

“It’s really important to me that I know what it feels like to do what I’m trying to articulate to them,” he explains.

That might sometimes look like Mike simply throwing a rugby ball around an empty training space, but there is a purpose behind it: rehearsing movements physically before working out the clearest way to coach them.

A year of milestones

There have already been plenty of significant moments in Game Changer’s first year. Mike remembers those very first sessions last August particularly fondly, when the centre was still only partly finished and some of the equipment had yet to arrive. More recently, he launched his first all-girls academy session.

“That was really special,” he says. “The girls brought so much energy.”

The summer also provided an important moment of reassurance that the business was heading in the right direction. One-to-one and small group sessions were fully booked throughout the summer, while a Game Changer camp at Prior Park College attracted almost 100 children in a single day. For a business only celebrating its first anniversary, it has been an encouraging start.

What comes next?

There are already plenty of ideas for Game Changer’s second year.

Demand for coaching means Mike is now considering bringing another coach into the business, particularly to help meet demand during term time. He would also like to explore opening up the gym to people working across Hartley Farm during the daytime.

And then there is an idea for something aimed at a much younger audience: Mini Game Changers. The plan would be to give very young children the chance to come along, have fun and get moving in the indoor space – with the added benefit, Mike points out, that parents can head over to Hartley for a coffee afterwards. Further ahead, there is even the possibility of a bigger Game Changer facility.

For now, though, there is plenty happening in the space Mike has built here at Hartley – and after a first year of full sessions, new programmes and growing demand, it feels as though Game Changer Rugby is only just getting started.

Want to hear more from Mike? Watch the full video over on our Instagram.