The programme, which comes with a £2m investment from Aviva, is an initiative which introduces more than 39,000 young people each season to rugby union through tag rugby, creating rugby legacy in England.
This week the Leicester Tigers Community coaches have been to Loughborough RFC to host a festival for teams from the local schools that had received coaching through the Aviva Schools Programme.
The festivals give the young players the chance to put the skills they have learnt from the past few weeks of coaching into good use and gain experience of the game of rugby.
The scheme targets new-to-rugby and non-traditional rugby schools, giving five weeks of coaching and teacher training, grassroots club links and resources for the school to continue to play rugby in the future.
The tag rugby festival in week six is the first taste of competitive rugby for many children and will allow schools that are new to the game to participate in a fun tag rugby festival with schools of a similar standard.
One school from each club region will qualify for the Finals at Twickenham on Aviva Premiership Rugby Final day in May where they will represent their Premiership Rugby club.
Tigers rugby development officer Rob Bryant, who ran last week’s festival, said: “It is great that we have the opportunity to go into schools where rugby is not usually part of the curriculum.
“This programme gives the kids a chance to try something new and there is some huge potential just waiting to be found. The kids all had a fantastic time and many of them have gone on from this course to join local rugby clubs which is amazing. Hopefully they will all go on to become fans of Leicester Tigers – or maybe even players!”
If you are interested in your school taking part in the Aviva Premiership Rugby Schools Programme then please phone Rob Bryant on 0116 2171 320 or email [email protected]
