Aviva

Players from Exeter Chiefs today joined up with Aviva and Premiership Rugby to launch a new schools rugby programme at Sandy Park, which is designed to broaden both interest and participation in the game.

Called the Aviva Premiership Rugby Schools Programme, it represents a significant investment (£2 million) by Aviva into the grassroots level of the game, that will go towards supporting over 15,000 man hours of coaching and reaching more than 36,000 pupils aged 9 – 11 years old from 600 primary schools in England over each of the next four seasons.

Over 30 pupils from Teignmouth's Trinity School took part in a session as part of the programme with Chiefs' squad members Ruaidhri Murphy, Herbie Stupple, Josh Matavesi, Drew Locke, Lloyd Fairbrother and Chris Bentley teaching the youngsters the basics of the game.

Meanwhile other local schools will also be participating in the scheme with the hope of unearthing the next generation of future England stars.

Chris Bentley, who is Exeter's Ambassador for the Aviva Programme said: “The programme is a great idea and will help nurture young English talent of the future as well as giving young people more confidence and inspiration to enjoy sport and keep fit. It’s also targeting non-traditional rugby playing schools, so hopefully it will bring a whole new audience to the game.”

Heather Smith, Head of Sponsorship at Aviva UK, said: “This announcement highlights our commitment of working with Premiership Rugby to grow participation in the sport. Through the Aviva Premiership Rugby Schools Programme we are proud to be helping develop and inspire the next generation of rugby players to take up rugby and hopefully unearth young England stars of the future along the way. Moreover, we feel that this programme encapsulates the importance of delivering real benefit to communities through rugby and helps towards the creation of a sustainable legacy for the sport.”

Wayne Morris, Head of Community at Premiership Rugby, added: “The Aviva Premiership Rugby Schools Programme is a fantastic opportunity for children to get to know the sport of rugby, learn new skills and gain in confidence.  We have a great partnership with Aviva and they share our commitment in helping develop the grassroots of the game in new rugby playing schools.”

AVIVA Premiership Rugby National Schools Programme

This season sees the launch of the exciting new Aviva Premiership Rugby Schools Programme, an initiative that will introduce over 36,000 young people to the sport through tag rugby.

The scheme is run by Premiership Rugby and the 12 Aviva Premiership Rugby clubs up and down the country and is expected to involve 600 primary schools with 1,200 teachers also receiving training. 600 sets of equipment and resources will be distributed and 300,000 spectators are expected to watch demonstration events.

The Aviva Premiership Rugby Schools Programme is aimed at Key Stage 2 pupils aged 9 and 10 years. Each Premiership Rugby club will work with year 5/6 pupils at 50 schools.

The Aviva Premiership Rugby Schools Programme involves a six week introduction to rugby:

Week 1-3: Skill development and learning the rules
Week 3-5: Skill development and team skills
Week 6: Festival

The tag rugby festival in week six will be the first taste of competitive rugby for many children and will allow schools that are new to rugby to participate in a fun tag rugby festival with schools of a similar standard.

One school from each Premiership Rugby club region will qualify for the Finals at Twickenham on Aviva Premiership Rugby Final day where they will represent their Premiership Rugby club.

Wayne Morris, Head of Community at Premiership Rugby, said, “The Aviva Premiership Rugby Schools Programme is a fantastic opportunity for children to get to know the sport of rugby, learn new skills and gain in confidence. I would like to thank Aviva for their commitment in helping us to provide this fabulous opportunity to help develop the grassroots of the game in new rugby playing schools.”