Age Grade Rugby

Since setting up the NLD Age Grade Rugby Team in October 2021, we have focused mainly on developing initiatives to promote player recruitment and retention.

This small team of volunteers has done lots of work to develop initiatives to support clubs. Some of these are described below.

We have also hosted regular Mini & Junior Forums and Girls Rugby Forums for club coaches and administrators and in early 2022 we carried out 2 surveys to establish our priorities and to help develop the latest version of the NLD website (launched September 2022).

Current Age Grade Team activities are summarised here.

We would welcome your ideas for future work that may benefit age grade players, coaches, parents and volunteers in NLD.  You may even have a passion for developing these initiatives for the benefit of others.  If so please contact Tim Wilbraham at [email protected] or talk to your club coaches or team managers about contacting us via the NLD Age Grade or NLD Girls WhatsApp groups.

In an effort to show more boys and girls the joys of rugby, NLDRFU have been helping clubs connect with local primary schools. The NLD Age Grade Team have been working with 12 clubs who stated in a recent NLD Club Needs Survey that links with local schools was a priority for them.

This is in addition to RFU initiatives that are supporting club-school links for 11 other clubs in Nottingham, Derbyshire and South Lincolnshire.

The NLD Age Grade Team has started the process of hiring rugby coaches who can run non-contact rugby lessons in schools during school hours and encourage children and parents to attend festivals and holiday activities at their local club. The idea is that they enjoy such a warm welcome from rugby that they can’t resist coming back for more!

Throughout the projects the Schools Links coaches will also mentor teachers to give them the confidence to teach more non-contact rugby lessons in their schools.

The Women’s World Cup in August and September is also providing clubs with the additional opportunity to attract girls into the game with non contact rugby activities during the summer.

The image below shows a recent professional development session for primary school teachers and sports providers run by the NLD Age Grade team hosted at Silverdale School in Derby.

The Schools-Links initiative is a match-funding support project with clubs where 50% is funded by NLDRFU and The Anthony Wharton Trust. Clubs take responsibility for their coach and project supported by the NLD Age Grade Team. The project replaces the Schools Charter that ran from 2022 to this season.

What the NLD Age Grade Team can help with

• Provide match funding for coaching in local schools
• Help with recruiting coaches to work in schools
• Help with coaching programme development
• Advice and support for club links with schools
• Provision of surveys to follow up schools activity

How your club will support the programme

• Match funding the Schools Link programme
• Project Management, reporting and safeguarding responsibility for the coaches
• Provide kit and equipment for the Schools-Link Coaches
• Hosting events at your club for schools involved in the programme
  • Festivals hosted at your club during school hours
  • Welcome at festivals from the relevant age group coaching team
  • Holiday activities to retain links through to the following season

Pitch Up and Play events are a vital element of the U12-U18 Girls rugby playing calendar, giving girls an additional opportunity to play rugby.

The Age Grade Team will promote events by welcoming well-known players and coaches to contribute at events.

The U16 Girls’ Developing Player Programme (DPP) is a new initiative launching in the 2022-23 season, run by the NLD in association with the RFU (rather than a professional club), and is part of the England Rugby Development Framework.

Updates on the detail and progress of the DPP will be posted on the Girls’ Rugby page of this site.

In developing the Girls’ DPP, NLD have made every effort to establish parity with the investment already enjoyed by boys’ rugby.

James Hamilton has joined the programme as Lead Coach, leading an experienced team of coaches.  James is Head of Rugby at Nottingham High School and he has previous experience of leading a boys DPP centre.

This initiative targets a group that was highlighted as a retention priority in Forums and surveys.

The events will take place at different locations around Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and Derbyshire and they will feature well known players and high-quality coaches.  They will run sessions on key skill areas that are relevant to these age groups.

More information will be posted here as it becomes available.