Grassroots Development Essay Example

Grassroots Development Essay Example Grassroots Development Essay Grassroots Development Essay In this assignment the sport I am going to be looking at is Rugby union, as this is a sport I have played for many years, and have an interest in the way the sport has changed.  Grassroots Development.  Above are some of the logos of sponsors of youth rugby.  Rugby Union is a sport that has been increasing in popularity over the years, but it has seen its biggest influx of players since the English International side were crowned world champions at the IRB World Cup 2003. The numbers have increased by 20% The National Governing Board (NGB) for Rugby Union in the UK is the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and the board for Rugby worldwide is the International Rugby Board (IRB). Rugby starts Minis rugby which is for the under 11s, this can also be called touch or Tag Rugby. For the details of minis rugby see appendix. Rugby then has teams at year age groups from U12-U16, and then you have colts (17-19) these can also be played as individual age groups. After colts you have mens rugby this usually consists of a 1st, 2nd and 3rd team and the managers will select which you play for. : Local club/area  I live in Brackley in South Northants; we are surrounded by Buckingham, Banbury, and Towcester. There are many clubs in the local area, most of these are male clubs but there is one female club in Buckingham. I play for Buckingham RUFC U17. Most clubs all have youth and senior teams, most of the children who start of in the youth teams work there way up into the seniors. This is something the RFU are trying to promote through their Community Rugby Programme. For more information you can contact your local Rugby Development officer (RDO).  To see a list of clubs and how to contact them please see appendix.  NGB schemes  Since Englands triumph in the world cup, the RFU have started a programme called Community Rugby. The Community Rugby scheme was started because of the numbers of non- professional adult players dropped to a very worrying level. For information on the Community Rugby scheme see appendix. The RFU also run coaching badges, this is where they train people to a recognised level so they can coach child and adult teams to the level that the RFU train there players to.   Tetleys bitter and Heineken larger, sponsor the two main cups that the top clubs compete for, the premier league that all the top clubs play for is sponsored by Zurich insurance company. Gilbert makes and provides the balls to the premier league and for international games, they also supply some of the lower leagues but most of the clubs have to supply the balls out of their own money. Lucozade make isotonic drinks, they supply the England squad with a never ending stock of drinks, and they also supply some of the league teams with drinks, Lucozade supply the team with the drinks because the public see the International team drinking their drink and think that if they drink the drink they will become one step closer to becoming as good as their idols. Oliver Sweeny and Hacketts of London supply the England players with smart dress and shoes. This also applies to all the other sponsors if the top players are seen using or wearing their equipment or clothes, then others will do the same as they want use the same as the best. Provision for/pathways for elite performers  Primary schools in the area do very little rugby, but the local club Brackley RUFC try and go into the schools and run training sessions and try and get the kids to go and play for them. The diagram below shows how players progress through the ranks to become an elite performer.  Additional agencies and bodies  The RFU have an additional body that have an additional body that run the Ground match scheme, the aim of the scheme is to finance capital projects to improve facilities and which contribute to the recruitment and retention of community rugby players. For full details of the scheme please see appendix. Provision for male/female competitors.  Rugby Union is a very male dominated sport but over the past few years it has become very popular in females. The male aspect of the game has much more funding, and chances for the elite performers. In the female aspect of the game the ladies have fewer teams for example in the local area there are nine mens teams and only one womens team. There are fewer professional teams as well but they do have an international side that has the same amount of tournaments and they also have a world cup. The rules of the game differ between the two sexes as well, for example in the mens game you can lift in the line outs and fly-hack, but in the female game you can do neither of these. This could be down to the men having a different build to the women, but in my opinion this is quit sexist, I believe that a sport that is enjoyed by the males should be enjoyed equally as much by the females at the same level with the same prospects. Provision for disabled participants- local/elite  Rugby for the disabled is a game that is played in wheelchairs. The game is played on a standard Basketball court using a volleyball, there is a goal at each end of the court. Wheelchair rugby is a game designed for tetraplegics or people with an upper limb impairment, and is open to people of all ages and both sexes. The governing board for wheelchair rugby in the UK is GBWRA. For other details please see the appendix. There are a very few sponsors of wheelchair rugby, which I think is disappointing as these people are a credit to English Rugby because they are trying to live their life to the max even though they are disabled. Some of them have done this by representing England at the Paralympics where they came third.  Critical analysis/evaluation  I am going to look at how much the mens game is promoted and supported compared to the females game. The mens game is watched worldwide thanks to Sky TV who pays to do this, so they are promoting the sport and supporting them by giving them money. The mens game has over twenty sponsors that support them by supplying them with equipment. The womens game is very rarely shown on TV. They have some of the sponsor that supports the mens rugby but not all of them. I think this wrong because the female game is just as good as the mens game but is not as widely known about because it has less publicity, for example the Female Six Nations, Englands female rugby team rarely on to TV as the male team have most of the coverage in their Six Nations.