Members of Bosworth Under-16s trained with Matt Smith, Steve Mafi, Lee Robinson, Dan Hemingway and Peter Bucknall courtesy of QBE, the specialist in business insurance.
Bosworth are one of six grassroots rugby clubs across the country to be awarded a training session with Premiership Rugby players.
The prizes were awarded to innovative clubs who demonstrate how they contribute to improving their local community. The judges were impressed with the hard work of Bosworth coaches and their efforts to harness support from almost 200 playing and non-playing volunteers who helped renovate the facilities in order to ensure that the club maintains its high standards on and off the pitch.
The training session provided the Market Bosworth Under-16s with the rare opportunity to learn from professionals and pick up specialist advice on core rugby skills and game play. This was followed by a meet and greet with the Leicester players as they were happy to pose for photographs and sign autographs for Market Bosworth club members. In addition, the club received £1,000 worth of training equipment.
Mike Akroyd, Bosworth club member, said: "The training session taken by Leicester Tigers players was a great success as the Under-16s team got the opportunity to develop a number of new skills.
“Hopefully this will greatly benefit the squad as the season reaches its climax. We are very grateful to QBE for the fantastic event and the new training equipment.”
Tonga international Mafi said: "I think that QBE Rugby Pro is a fantastic initiative and I am delighted that Market Bosworth has won this competition.
“It's great that the club is actively promoting the sport of rugby in the area and that we have the opportunity to pass on some specialist advice to the youngsters here to help them and the club develop.”
Ten rugby clubs from across the UK were awarded runners up prizes of £1,000 worth of training kit, including training balls, post protectors, match balls, training tops, water bottles, kit bag, bibs and cones; essentials for grassroots rugby clubs.
QBE Rugby Pro is part of QBE's Developing Talent programme, which sees the business insurer encourage development of the game at a grassroots level and supports QBE employees through rugby.
For more information on the winning clubs and QBE Rugby Pro visit www.qberugby.com
