Ahead of the start of the Autumn Internationals, England Rugby and Premiership Rugby launched a new community initiative that aims to introduce the sport into new community called ‘Project Rugby’.
The new grassroots engagement programme, designed to increase participation in under-represented communities rugby and to those who have never played the sport, was promoted through a hero ‘Project Rugby – I Am A Rugby Player’ spot initially posted on the Rugby Football Union’s YouTube channel,
and a 25 October launch event at AJ Bell Stadium that aimed to help get the initiative off to a flying start and which was fronted by Sale Sharks stars Will Addison and Denny Solomona who put almost 100 children from Manchester through their paces.
The launch was also supported by plenty of digital and social,
An amazing day and a fantastic initiative! Get involved this season! #iamarugbyplayer #projectrugby https://t.co/aUO2a8PNcm
— Sale Sharks (@SaleSharksRugby) October 24, 2017
and all assets aimed to drive those wanting to find out more to the web hub (at http://www.premiershiprugby.com/projectrugby/), or the initiative’s Facebook page and Twitter feed (at http://www.facebook.com/PremiershipRugby and http://twitter.com/premrugby).
The new initiative could not only increase participation in under-represented communities: will specifically engage black, Asian & minority ethnic people, people from low socio-economic backgrounds and disabled people aged 14-24 with rugby union.
“I think one of the core values of rugby is teamwork and that has definitely been shown – I think the kids have really enjoyed it. I think rugby instils something in them that makes them want to come back and hopefully join a club in the future” said Addison at the launch event.
“There are urban areas that haven’t had rugby before, so to be able to reach out to those areas is fantastic. The benefits of rugby are not only health but socially as well. Seeing how much the kids are enjoying it really helps us as players because we enjoy it too. “But first and foremost it’s about making sure the kids enjoy it and if they fancy taking up rugby after it, then they will. There were some speedsters out there and some untapped talent so hopefully we could have some stars of the future.”
Head of rugby growth at England Rugby, Ben Lowe, also used the launch event to hail rugby as a unique sport for providing a plethora of core values.
“The core values of the sport, teamwork, respect, enjoyment, discipline, and sportsmanship, can really resonate with young people and add value to their lives,” claimed Lowe.
“We heard from some participants in the programme about how it developed their leadership skills and it’s something they can take back into school and grow as a person as well as get physical active. Rugby is relatively unique in that regard. It’s fantastic to see the guys and girls running around in mixed groups with touch and tag rugby I think that’s what the game is all about really. We’ve already had a strong start in terms of engaging participants we’ve had some learnings along the way and I think it’s great our local RFU delivery teams and the Premiership clubs are working closely to make it even better over the coming year.”
Wayne Morris, Community & Corporate Social Responsibility Director at Premiership Rugby, added: “What we’re really excited about in Project Rugby is broadening the breadth and depth of the game – it’s about taking the game to new communities and allowing people who didn’t feel that rugby was a sport for them to be involved in our sport.”
Comment:
This admirable project aims to reach over 12,000 participants by Summer 2018 by providing accessible opportunities to play rugby in over 200 community locations across England, transitioning new players and volunteers into local grassroots rugby clubs.
The plan is to ‘engage and develop new audiences through rugby and stimulate a lifelong interest in the game’, while the programme will primarily delivered by community staff from Premiership Rugby’s 14 shareholder clubs at over 200 locations across England, providing accessible opportunities for people to participate in the game at a time and place that can be easily accessed by target audiences.
The initial objective is to engage thousands of new participants per year, then transition these participants from Project Rugby activity into regular rugby participation, plus to improve individual wellbeing, reduce social isolation and improving levels of social connectedness and challenge existing perceptions of the game, positioning rugby as a sport for anyone regardless of background, ability or gender
Links:
Project Rugby
http://www.premiershiprugby.com/projectrugby/
http://www.facebook.com/PremiershipRugby
Premiership Rugby
http://www.premiershiprugby.com/home.php
http://www.facebook.com/PremiershipRugby
http://twitter.com/premrugby
https://www.youtube.com/user/PremiershipRugby
https://plus.google.com/u/0/106489083114376580006
England Rugby
https://twitter.com/EnglandRugby
https://www.facebook.com/OfficialEnglandRugby/
