NLD Conference 2024: ‘Developing the club of the future’.

The future survival of rugby at clubs, schools and colleges will be dependent on their ability to adapt their offer. The Conference will look at how organisations can use rugby’s core values to develop a welcoming and safe environment for everyone on the pitch, on the sidelines and in the clubhouse.

This free event will help you develop your plans for the 2024/2025 season and see how you can help your organisation adapt to the changing needs of your players, volunteers, supporters, parents and officials.

The Conference will be relevant to male and female rugby at senior and age-grade.  It is open to everyone, including players, volunteers, officials and coaches from clubs, schools and colleges.

More detailed description of each session can be found lower down this post.

9.30-10.00  Arrival and Registration.

Tea, Coffee, Biscuits available.

10.00-10.15 : Welcome.

Jeff Mapp, Chairperson NLDRFU.

10.15-10.45:  Issues for Recruitment and Retention and best practice examples.

Richard Lightbown, RFU Club and Volunteer Support Manager and Paul Westgate, Nottingham University Head Coach.

10.45-11.00  : Refreshments.

11.00-12.00  : Breakout session choices.

Option 1: Making club environment attractive to Young People.

Youth Council with Tim Wilbraham NLD Head of Age Grade Rugby.

Option 2: Creating a Safe Environment for Players, Match Officials and Supporters.

Tim Bembridge, NLD Discipline, Paul John, NLD Referee Society, Jeff Mapp, NLD Chair.

Option 3: Developing Club, School, College and University Links.

Alan Staines, NLD Head of School Links, Richard Marelli, former RFU University links Manager.

Option 4: NLD Competitions for 20224-25 and the Future.

Leslie Law and Tony Clayton, NLD Competitions Committee.

Option 5: Women’s and Girls’ Rugby-A Local Strategy.

Siobhan Peeling, NLD Head of Girls Rugby, Debbie Linn, NLD Girls’ Player Pathway Link Manager, Jenna Bonser, RFU Development Officer.

12.00-12.45  : Buffet Lunch.

12.45-13.45 : Second Breakout Opportunity (choices as above).

13,45-14.00 : Refreshments.

14.00-15.00: Providing alternative formats of the rugby (Practical for those who want to join in) and preparing for GMS rollout in  2024-25.

Option 1: Establishing Touch Rugby for inter-club competitions.

Chris Simon, CEO England Touch.

Option 2: Establishing Walking Rugby at your club and starting inter-club competitions.

John Widdowson, RFU Match Official developer, L4 Coach, Adrian ‘Frenchie’ France, Bracebridge Heath Walking Rugby Founder

Option 3: Getting ready for Adult Player Registration from the 2024/25 Season

Ian Renard, Platform4Rugby Engagement Manager.

1500-15.30: Plenary – How do we make it work?

Jeff Mapp, Chairperson NLDRFU.

10:00 to 10:15 Welcome
Jeff Mapp, Chairperson, NLD RFU.

Jeff will introduce the conference’s theme of preparing ‘the club of the future’. He will also remind delegates that there will be the opportunity to share comments digitally and that these will be collated and used to inform the plenary session that Jeff will run at the end of the conference.

10:15 to 10:45 Session 1: Recruitment and retention of people in the ‘Club of the future’.
Richard Lightbown, RFU Club and Volunteer Support Manager and Paul Westgate, Nottingham University, Head Coach.

Richard will develop the conference theme of preparing ‘the club of the future’. He will demonstrate the importance of developing clubs that young players, volunteers, and officials will want to belong to and spend time in.

Paul will talk about the vital role of the coach / player relationship. A Level 5 coach, Paul will draw on his extensive experience of coaching at international, national, club and university level.

Richard will also talk about how clubs can seek to retain men and women who are reaching the end of their playing careers, as well as those who do not want to play the 15-a-side contact game and would prefer alternative ways to exercise and maintain contact with their friends.

We know that rugby clubs must plan and reorganise, to face many challenges that could ultimately topple organisations that do not adapt to meet the needs of young people and those who are reaching the end of their playing careers.

Richard will share ideas that have been tried at clubs around the country and also introduce the benefits offered by the sessions offered in the conference’s five breakout sessions and afternoon activities

Delegates will be given the opportunity to attend 2 of the following breakout sessions.

First option 11:00 to 12:00. Second option 12:45 to 13:45

Breakout Room 1: Making club environment attractive to Young People

NLD Youth Council with Tim Wilbraham, NLD Head of Age Grade Rugby

The NLD Youth Council is a group of young volunteers aged 16 to 23, who represent young people from Minis and Juniors through to the transition from U18 to adult rugby. They want to promote the idea of clubs appointing their own Youth Council representatives. They have circulated a flyer to clubs and also promoted the project on social media and at  NLD online forums. They want the representatives to talk to people of all age groups to find out what their views are (open questions have been suggested in the flyer) and for them to then feedback the information to the NLD Youth Council in January.

During this conference session, the NLD Youth Council will talk about how they operate and the projects that they are involved in.

They will also talk about the benefits of clubs establishing Youth Councils of their own, to involve young people in their decision-making processes and ensure they are creating a club environment that is attractive to young people.

Following this, they will share the information that they will have gathered from their first meeting with Club Youth Council representatives in January.

There will be an opportunity for delegates to discuss the implications of what young people are asking for and how they might develop an environment that reflects the wishes of their young people.

Breakout Room 2: Creating a Safe Environment for Players, Match Officials and Supporters

Tim Bembridge, NLD Discipline, Paul John, NLD Referee Society, Jef Mapp, NLD Chair.

Club officials will know that there can be significant sanctions for clubs not adhering to the rugby’s core values throughout their organisation, including the loss of league points or worse. More importantly, we know that bad experiences on the pitch, on the touchline and in the clubhouse can lead to people leaving the game.

We cannot expect to attract new match officials, players, supporters or volunteers if we cannot guarantee that matches are played in a safe environment and that we all seek to maintain the game’s core values during our time at our rugby clubs.

The NLD Referee’s Society and NLD Discipline Committee will offer ways to ensure help clubs demonstrate rugby’s core values on the pitch and in the clubhouse. This should help clubs establish a safe environment to help them retain players, match officials, volunteers, supporters and parents while also avoiding sanctions due to poor behaviour.

Breakout Room 3: Developing Schools, College and University Links

Alan Staines, NLD School Links Richard Marelli, former RFU University links Manager.

Many clubs and rugby enthusiasts frequently express their frustration about the lack of rugby played at schools near to them. Alan Staines leads the NLD Schools Links team, who are trying to coordinate activity to promote rugby in schools. Alan and his team will be joined by Richard Marelli who has just retired from his role of RFU University Links Manager.

They will share the experiences of clubs who have helped establish rugby in local schools and also established links with clubs. established links with schools.

A key project that The NLD Schools Links team will share is their work to help schools in Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and Derbyshire introduce Touch Rugby as a sport for boys and girls during the summer term. This ties in with the afternoon session to be run by Chris Simons of England Touch Rugby. Delegates will be welcomed to join in with this exciting project and to find out how they can develop stronger ties with their local schools.

Breakout Room 4: NLD Competitions for 2024-25 and the Future

Leslie Law and Tony Clayton, NLD Competitions Committee.

The rejuvenated Competitions Committee have made great progress in establishing a competitions structure for all clubs withing NLD with an improved match completion rate. In this session they will talk about their plans for the 2024-2025 season to ensure more teams are able to play competitive rugby.

Breakout Room 5: Women and Girls Rugby-A Local Strategy

Siobhan Peeling, NLD Head of Girls Rugby, Debbie Linn, NLD Player Pathway link, Jenna Bonser, RFU Development Officer.

This session will offer the opportunity for delegates to help develop some crucial aspects of the Women’s and Girls’ rugby in Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and Derbyshire including:

• Female representation at all levels at club and NLD
• Managing the safe transition of girls into women’s rugby
• Ensuring that the development of girls’ rugby is retained at U18

14:00 to 15:00 Delegates will be given the choice of attending one of the following three sessions

Option 1: Establishing Touch Rugby for inter-club competitions.

Chris Simon, CEO England Touch

The RFU and World Rugby are reporting that clubs in the future will need to develop how they incorporate different formats of the game to ensure their survival.

For various reasons people are attracted to alternative formats of rugby, rather than contact rugby. Our local universities for instance, see mass participation of men and women in Touch Rugby.

Summer 2024 will see the Touch Rugby World Cup played in Nottingham. This will offer clubs and schools an excellent opportunity to launch a competitive structure for Touch Rugby and open up the opportunity to recruit new players and retain those who might otherwise leave the game.

This summer the NLD plan to offer Touch Rugby festivals to help clubs establish Touch Rugby Teams. We also propose to establish a competitive structure for club teams to play Touch Rugby through the rugby season.

Chris Simon will talk about how Touch Rugby can be set up in clubs and schools and he will also offer a practical demonstration of the game and how it can be refereed and coached.

Option 2: Establishing Walking Rugby at your club and starting inter-club competitions.

John Widdowson, RFU Match Official developer, L4 Coach,  Adrian ‘Frenchie’ France, Bracebridge Heath Walking Rugby Founder

Walking Rugby is fast developing as an attractive alternative to contact rugby, for those who want to maintain their involvement with the game. John will offer a practical session for delegates take part and understand the game’s benefits. He will also share how the game has been successfully promoted and established in clubs.

Adrian will discuss the formation and development of Bracebridge Heath Walking Rugby Group.

Option 3: Getting ready for Adult Player Registration from the 2024/25 Season

Ian Renard, Platform4Rugby Engagement Manager.

2024/25 will see Adult Player Registration implemented across the game. Ian is leading on how we engage the game with this project. Ian will be with us to take you through how you can help to get ready for this change and talk you through the benefits and opportunities that this will give to all.

He will be able to talk through support available and key elements to focus on as we build towards 1st July and the season switch over, when Adult Player Registration is implemented.

 15:00 to 15:45 Plenary

How do we make it work?
Jeff Mapp.. Chair of NLD RFU.

Jeff will share the observations made by delegates throughout the conference and he will offer the opportunity for delegates to plan how they can carry out actions in their clubs. Delegates may also feel sufficiently energised to help the NLD in the projects that have been discussed throughout the day.