More than 150 young players took part in tag games and activities at Swaffham RFC with Tigers rugby development officer Justin Loveridge and Academy captain Charlie Clare.
They also put Swaffham’s youth age groups through their paces during the event, which was part of Tigers’ Aviva Premiership Rugby Schools Programme.
The day of fun activities also included go-karting, climbing wall, bouncy castle and archery.
It helped attract new families to Swaffham RFC and raise £700 to help fund their activities. Young players also signed up to the Tigers Rugby Course, which will be held at Swaffham RFC from July 25-29.
Ian Milligan, Swaffham youth chairman, said: “I have been with the rugby club for nine years and it is the most successful event that we have had regarding recruitment and school interaction.
“We have welcomed 16 families as members to the club together with a number of others committing to come back for the next session we run.
“More importantly, numerous children and their families have experienced what rugby as a sport and a community has to offer.”
Tigers have been running their Aviva Premiership Rugby Schools Programme in schools around the Swaffham club. The programme sees Loveridge give schools a six-week introduction to the sport and work with teachers to continue with tag once the club's coaches have moved on. Equipment and resources are left behind.
The programme aims to help create a legacy by encouraging the young players who have been taking part to continue playing rugby. It included a festival of tag rugby, hosted by Swaffham RFC, where the young players were able to put their new skills into practice before concluding with Sunday’s fun day.
“The programme is proving very popular with everyone who has taken part,” says Tigers community manager Scott Clarke said. “It was a fantastic day at Swaffham thanks to a lot of hard work by those involved.
“The programme is helping to nurture young talent of the future as well as giving young people more confidence and inspiration to enjoy sport and keep fit.”
Launched in October, the Aviva Premiership Rugby Schools Programme represents a £2 million investment by Aviva into the grass roots level of the game. Resources will go towards supporting more than 15,000 man hours of coaching and reaching more than 39,000 pupils aged nine to 11 from 660 primary schools in England over each of the next four seasons.
More information on the Aviva Premiership Rugby Schools Programme and Tigers Rugby Courses is available on the Tigers website at www.leicestertigers.com/community
