Regional Annual Report

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1 Regional Annual Report Highlands & Islands Comhairle nan Eilean Siar 1

2 INTRODUCTION This is the annual report for the Highlands & Islands Region; it gives a brief description of the progress made in growing and developing the game of rugby during season ; it also highlights the key successes and challenges ahead. MAIN HIGHLIGHTS o Growth in Adult participation of 110 (25%) o Growth in Girl s rugby participation of 40 (23%) o Successful Scotland Under 20 Six Nations International against France held in Inverness. o Orkney RFC appointed the first Island based Club Development Officer in Scotland. o Over children received rugby coaching during the season in 1000 sessions delivered by the Highland RFC and Orkney RFC Club Development Officers, the SVQs from Shetland Islands Council, Highland RFC and Lochaber RFC and sessional coaches part funded by Scottish Rugby. o Food Standards Agency Project ran in four Council Areas (Shetland, Orkney, Western Isles, Highland) with 26 schools, 38 Classes and 760 pupils each getting a six week block of rugby together with classwork containing a Food Hygiene and Healthy Eating message. o Over 38 Cashback for Communities funded Street Rugby sessions were held across the Region. SUMMARY OF PROGRESS There is tremendous satisfaction to be taken from the efforts made by Clubs, especially the work of the Club Development Officers and SVQs, across the Region which has resulted in growth in both Adults and Youths playing within Clubs. In addition, the efforts of school teachers and school Rugby Champions along with the development work being done within schools by the Club Development Officers, SVQs and Sessional Coaches is reflected in the growth of numbers participating within schools. 5 successful Girls Development days were organised by the Scottish Rugby s Girls Rugby Development Co ordinators for the Highlands. The Co ordinators were paramount in encouraging the growth which took place in girl s rugby over the year. Plockton High School played with distinction winning the Brewin Dolphin under 18 Shield. The Festival of Rugby held in conjunction with the IRB Sevens at Murrayfield at the end of May saw a combined team of girls from the Highlands participate admirably. The result of this activity was an overall increase in the number of girls having the opportunity to play from 175 to 215. However it is recognised that more work needs done to encourage girls to attend Development Days and play more regular fixtures. There is also the need for an identified route to women s rugby for the girls who wish to play after leaving school. Partnerships Developed Partnerships which ran successfully included working closely with Caithness RFC, Ross Sutherland RFC, Stornoway RFC and Fortrose Academy. The purpose of these investments was to strengthen clubs and increase the numbers playing the game, reviews of all of them show that they are making a positive impact on the rugby community in their respective locations. In addition to the existing DO Partnerships with Highland RFC and Orkney RFC, a partnership is being developed with Caithness Rugby Club, Highland Council and other external partners to put a funding package together which will lead to the appointment of a Club Development Officer in Caithness during the coming season. 2

3 Relationships with all four Local Authorities, Shetland Islands Council, Orkney Islands Council, Western Isles and Highland Council continue to develop and strengthen with Shetland Islands Council continuing to support an SVQ for 2010/11, Orkney Islands Council investing in the Club Development Officer and Highland Council committing to support the Caithness RFC Development Officer. The sustained partnership with Coaching Highland, where Rugby is a Core Sport, has enabled 24 coaches to receive scholarships for UKCC and other rugby related courses. With the establishment and progress of the Regional Sporting Partnership in the Highlands and Islands Rugby now has the opportunity to contribute to the further development of sport within the region. International Rugby 3000 supporters packed into Tulloch Caledonian Stadium Inverness to see the Scotland U20 International team draw with there French counterparts in the U20 Six Nations. In addition to the game its self there was also a successful Schools Festival held by Highland RFC and attended by school teams from across the Region, including Orkney and a Clubs were given the opportunity to value their sponsors by inviting them to the pre match reception. As part of Scottish Rugby s continued initiative for Community Mascots 10 mini rugby players, attended Murrayfield Stadium to be Mascots for the Scotland team. The lucky players who received full Scotland kit and ran out of the player s tunnel to stand with the Scotland team for the National Anthems represented the following clubs in the region with active mini sections; Shetland, Orkney, Caithness, Ross Sutherland, Highland, Nairn, Strathspey, Lochaber, Stornoway and Ullapool. COACH DEVELOPMENT Coaching Updates on National Themes were held by Club Development Officer and a national Updates was presented by Stevie Scott who come from Murrayfield to take coaches and selected players for a session on Lineouts. A healthy number of coaches, 94 in total, attended Coach Education Courses held across the region. These courses consisted of a UKCC Level 2 Coaching Course in Inverness; UKCC Level 1 Courses held in Inverness and Lerwick and New Foundation courses held for coaches, students and volunteers in Inverness, Orkney, Ft William, Stornoway and Plockton. There were also 27 young coaches who attended three Youth Coaching Courses held in Inverness, Kirkwall and Stornoway. PERFORMANCE The performance side of the game was successful with some great progress in player and coach development. In addition Highland RFC established a Youth Academy to further develop the skills of identified players. Players that have represented Scotland are as follows: U20 Kris Hamilton (Caithness) Players that have represented Caledonia are as follows: U17 Corrin McKenzie (Highland), Chris Simpson (Caithness), Connor Kelly (Highland) Along with the player success, Colin Sangster (Caithness) was coach of the Caledonia U18 squad. The local pathway program was another success with over 60 players being involved in squads taking part in fixtures against other areas. Great strides continue to be made in the area with increasingly positive performances from both squads of players at U15 and U16. The tremendous work done by the management teams of Graham McKenzie, Alasdair McDonald, Andy Stephens, Adrian McDonald, 3

4 John Carson, Dave Carson and Chris Brogan is to be congratulated for all their hard work, commitment and effort to ensure the program was successful. Club successes during the season included Highland RFC U15 who won Caledonia Shield, Orkney RFC U16 reached final of Caledonia Cup, Highland RFC U18 who won Caledonia Bowl and Caithness RFC U18 reached final of Caledonia Plate. During the season, David Ross, Performance Development Manager for the North, moved on to become Director of Rugby at St Andrews University and due to the review within the Performance part of Scottish Rugby wasn t replaced. MATCH OFFICIAL DEVELOPMENT The Refereeing Courses were not been well attended this year. For the first time planned courses had to be cancelled as there were not enough registered for the course to go ahead. The referees society covered the majority of league and cup games from 1 st XV to U18 with only a few 2 nd XV and U18 games being covered by qualified referees in the club. Clubs are now covering their own games from U16 and below. There are enough society referees to cover all senior games but they are not always available and we need more to cover for those moving into referee coaching. The Referee s Society needs to have new referees coming forward every year and last year there was only 1 new referee in Highlands and Islands with 2 retiring. With the game growing there are more games so we need more referees, every club needs to consider if they have enough qualified Level 1 referees to cover all the teams they run and if not get coaches on Level 1 Refereeing courses. CONCLUSION The fourth year of the Regional Rugby Development Strategy and Action Plan has shown continued success with all key partners Clubs, Local Authorities and other Agencies working well together to build on the good work of the previous years. It is important that we all continue to be active in developing partnerships which continue this good work and further develop and strengthen our clubs and grow the game in both schools and clubs. Challenges for next year o Ensuring that by working with all Clubs and Local Authorities further opportunities for investment are identified from across the region which will grow and develop the game. o Development of an appropriate exit route for girl s to womens rugby. o Improvement to the standard and quantity of playing facilities. o Continued efforts to recruit Volunteers within Clubs and Schools. o Reverse the decline in the number of active Referees. I would like to thank all involved for their commitment and efforts so far and I look forward to working with you all in addressing the challenges ahead and ensuring that the whole of the rugby playing community in the Highlands & Islands continues to go from strength to strength. Brian M. Bell Regional Development Manager Highlands & Islands July

5 APPENDIX 1 H&I Strategic Targets to 2012 H & I 2009 actual H & I 2010 target H & I 2010 actual 24% increase in adult players from 445 in 2008 to 550 in 2012* % increase in young players from 1729 in 2008 to 2200 in Increase girls players from 65 to % increase in the number of UKCC qualified coaches from 67 in 2009 (138 non UKCC coaches in 2008) to 160 in % increase in the number of qualified referees from 219 in 2008 to 275 in See Note See Note 2 Increase women players from 0 to Note 1: This is the number of Coaches recorded as competent UKCC Coaches and is therefore a re adjustment on the previous figures which were the number of qualified coaches including Foundation Level. Note 2: This is the number of Licensed Referees in Clubs, Schools and the Highland Referees Society. 5

Highlands & Islands Rugby Development Strategy

Highlands & Islands Rugby Development Strategy 2009 2012 Foreword The Rugby Development Strategy 2009 2012 is intended to build on the successes and achievements of the 2006 2009 regional strategy and