Young players signed up to rugby clubs
With Battersea Ironsides out in front
With England getting bronze in the Rugby World Cup and the Red Roses taking on three top teams in New Zealand, more parents have signed up their children to local rugby clubs than at this time last season, as 7% more clubs registered players and there was a significant increase in both the number of girls registered and the number of clubs with girls playing.
Currently, a total of 152,391 age grade players are registered with 907 clubs, with 815 clubs registering 5% increase in the number of girls.
Battersea Ironsides RFC, with 975, and Farnham RFC with 861, are at the top for the overall number of age grade registrations. They are followed by Old Alleynians, Cobham and Wimbledon RFCs, while the top five Constituent Bodies are Yorkshire, Surrey, Kent, Gloucestershire and North Midlands.
By the RFU giving parents and carers ownership of their children’s data and encouraging registration, players can have a record throughout their playing career and the RFU an accurate picture of playing numbers.
Ironsides youngsters on every green space
At Battersea Ironsides, youth chairman Al Cowie explains that without loads of space at the club for their 900+ young players, “practically every green space in Wandsworth has Battersea Ironsides youngsters running around there on a Sunday!”
He credits their success to a strong team of volunteers, many of them parents but also former Ironsides players who want to pass on their considerable expertise. “We are very lucky to have a great catchment area in South London and to be a really inclusive family club focused on fun and helping the kids to progress in the sport and gain rugby values. We’ve always had a strong mini section, and our youth section has also grown year on year. We are a community club, so we try to reach young people who might not otherwise get the chance to play rugby. It is really important to us that rugby is for everyone and we have funding available to support families in financial difficulty to access the sport. It’s great to see kids from different backgrounds all gel as a team and we want them to always see Ironsides as their home club, even if they move away or go further afield to university. Many come back to play in U21s or U23s matches with their old teammates and many others continue to play senior rugby.”
Together with minis chair, Zoe Goodwin, Al is proud to be top of the age grade registration table but says they won’t rest on their laurels and are always looking to learn from other clubs’ success. “We always get a few more players when there’s a Rugby World Cup, men’s or women’s, taking place. We have a great team of volunteers working to build our girls' section in particular. We have run Inner Warrior events, have had the Red Roses come down and talk to the girls and have a great connection with Bryony Cleall. That is inspiring, and role models make a big difference.”
Thank you Twickenham tickets
At the start of this season, across the country families either registered their children for the first time, or renewed their registration, with club volunteers and registrars helping. As a thank you, all the clubs were offered ten free tickets to England v Wales in the Summer Series at Twickenham Stadium on 12 August. Prizes are also available for any club registering either more players or the same number as last season, with a chance to win a training session with an England Rugby legend, a £2,000 club kit voucher and up to three kit packages each worth £1,000. Winning clubs will be drawn at random at the end of December 2023, a great gift for the festive season.
Although the registration process for young players remains with their families, feedback showed a number of U17s and U18s wanting to take ownership of the way they engage with the game as they move towards adult rugby, so there is now an option for them to register as a player or to join courses on offer.
