Club Sustainability Award Season 2018/19 Guidance Notes November 2017
Club Sustainability Award: Guidance Document Dear Club, Scottish Rugby has set out its vison for domestic rugby through Agenda 3 a blueprint for sustainable clubs. A sustainable club is a club that can operate within its current means, both on and off-field, with a strong infrastructure to enable it to thrive and succeed in the future. In essence, to have the on-field resources such as the quantity and quality of players, coaches and referees and off-field organisation in areas of governance, people, finance and facilities to meet the aspirations of the club. Scottish Rugby recognises the hard work clubs undertake to develop rugby in their local communities and will support clubs to develop and achieve the following: Strong playing opportunities for men and women from social to 1XV rugby Provide quality, safe and fun environments for children and young people to develop in the game. Support local primary and secondary schools to develop rugby. Develop and support coaches and match officials. Good governance with strategic direction for the future of the club. Quality facilities. Community clubs that are an integral part of their local communities. To support the delivery of Agenda 3, Scottish Rugby is introducing the Club Minimum Standards (MOS) and the Club Sustainability Award (CSA). The funding for the MOS and CSA represents part of the investment that clubs receive replacing the participation and sustainability elements previously contained in the Club Participation Agreement. The other funding elements are continuing such as travel, player insurance, club development officer and referee expenses. This change has been made to help clubs develop in sustainable ways by: Introducing needs based funding. If your club is doing more to develop rugby opportunities in your local community, you need more support. Setting clear defined levels - through bronze, silver and gold criteria - for clubs to achieve and providing incentives to reach these. Separating the non-negotiables (MOS) and the negotiables (CSA). All clubs will continue to receive support if they meet the Minimum Operating Standards. One of our intentions with the MOS and CSA is to make the process as simple and straightforward as possible, limiting the bureaucracy. We appreciate your time as volunteers in clubs is limited and we don t want to divert your attention away from running your clubs. We have also designed the application process to help you with your club planning over the next three years across important elements such as adult and youth teams, coaching and referees. 2
Help is at hand - there is significant support through your regional Club Services Manager to help and guide you through this new process. In addition, there are domestic rugby staff and resources available in all of the CSA areas women and girls, coaching, youth development and match officials - to help further develop your club and achieve the targets that you aim for over the next three years. The introduction of the MOS and CSA was launched at the Club Development Conference in September 2017 and the following timeline has been developed to give you sufficient time to prepare and complete the required paperwork. Step Timeline Club Development Conference 24 September 2017 Guidance notes & paperwork November 2017 Club meetings with CSM s 7 months Submit CSA application June 2018 Minimum Operating Standards issued June 2018 Return of signed MOS August 2018 Announce in-principle CSA offer awards September 2018 Initial payment October 2018 Balance payment May 2019 As with implementing anything new there may be areas we haven t anticipated or improvements we can make to the application process. Your support in making this as straightforward a process as possible by providing us with constructive feedback would be appreciated. We look forward to working with you to further strengthen club rugby in Scotland and receiving your CSA application in the summer of 2018. Yours faithfully, Nick Rennie Head of Club Services 3
Minimum Operating Standards (MOS) To participate in all levels of competition from mini to adult rugby in Scotland all clubs have to demonstrate that they meet the Minimum Operating Standards. MOS s are not a new concept and are currently included in the 2017-18 Club Participation Agreement where every club is required to meet standards to operate as clubs, receive investment and play in competition. The annual MOS will be circulated in early summer for the following season and will include standards related to the following topics: Topic Player welfare Child protection Governance Data provision Insurance and legal Competition regulations Scottish Rugby branding guidelines Clubs who meet the MOS will be eligible: To play in Scotland For player insurance For travel support For match officials To apply for further investment through the: Club Sustainability Fund Club Sustainability Award There is investment available over this three-year cycle for clubs who meet the MOS but haven t been able to meet either the bronze, silver or gold standards in the Club Sustainability Award. MOS investment: 2018-19 1,500 2019-20 1,250 2020-21 1,000 4
Club Sustainability Award The CSA will operate on a three-year cycle and clubs will apply in June 2018 for the next three years. Following review of the club application Scottish Rugby will give an award offer for the first year and an in-principle offer for the remaining two years to help clubs with their budgeting. There are three levels in the CSA to incentivize clubs to develop. The three levels with annual awards are as follows: Gold - 10,000 Silver - 5,000 Bronze - 3,500 Clubs will receive an initial payment in October with the balance in May when they have achieved the level they had stated in their application. Clubs will receive funding related to the level they achieve e.g. for Silver it will be a total of 5,000, (not 5,000 + 3,500). This phasing of payments is consistent with existing funding periods to help clubs with potential cash flow challenges due to low income but high outgoings at the start of the season. The CSA and the application process has been designed to help clubs with rugby development planning. It does this by bringing together the various playing-related sections of the clubs to look at their strengths and areas to further develop for the future health of the whole club. Hopefully, by undertaking this process clubs will identify opportunities to develop that can really benefit them over the next three seasons. Examples of this could be: Create two mini teams at specific age bands to ensure all mini players are getting equal game time and to ensure player numbers are maintained to feed into older age bands such as S1/U13 rugby Provide an overview of coaching numbers and quality across the whole club. Opportunities to create a girl s team or directing girls into a nearby women s section to keep young women in the game. Clubs who have some additional male adult players some weeks but not enough to commit to a team could collaborate with a neighbouring club to get teams out. The three CSA levels have been created based on five important on-field areas coaching, male adult teams, women and girls, youth development and match officials - and one strategic area to form the six strands. To achieve a bronze, silver or gold award level, clubs will have to meet all the six strands for that level. The levels have been set for the next three years starting in season 2018-19 with the following three-year cycle levels to be circulated at the end of the second year (2019-20) to give clubs adequate notice. 5
Coaching Male adult team Women & Girls Youth development Match Officials Strategic direction GOLD club coach coordinator 50% mini coaches L1 50% youth & adult coaches L2 L3 coach at U18 & adult Qualified S&C coach 3 teams 1 x Women s team 2 x Girls teams 13 teams across rugby community (min. 6 mini & 7 secondary teams) 1 or more L1 qualified refs per club team. Min of 2 female refs. 2 or more active society refs 1 ref secretary Have a strategic plan Financially sustainable 2 x qualified female coach SILVER club coach coordinator 33% mini coaches L1 33% youth & adult coaches L2 1 x L3 coach Qualified S&C coach 2 teams 1 x Women s team or 1 x Girls teams 9 teams across rugby community (min. 4 mini & 5 secondary teams) 1 or more L1 qualified refs per club team Min 1 female refs 1 active society refs 1 ref secretary Have a strategic plan Financially sustainable 1 x qualified female coach BRONZE club coach coordinator (only a CCC required in year 1-2018/19) 20% mini coaches L1 20% youth & adult coaches L2 (year 2) 1 team Developing Womens & Girls rugby 3 teams across rugby community 1 L1 qualified ref per 2 club teams 1 ref secretary Financially sustainable 6
CSA Application Process The application form has been created in the style of a development plan template. The editable PDF document can be downloaded and saved to allow consultation with your club. The application is for the next three years, starting in season 2018-19. It may be beneficial for clubs to create a small group of people to complete the application form representing the five or six strands of the CSA e.g. Senior Head Coach, Club Coach Coordinator, Youth Convener etc. If a club has a Director of Rugby it may be appropriate that they lead this piece of work. If your club doesn t have a Director of Rugby position, Scottish Rugby has guidance available and a DOR course to assist you with creating one. Please aim to build on your current situation and develop your club. It is important to strike a balance with being aspirational but keeping it realistic and achievable. Having the correct data such as number of coaches, referees, teams and players etc. will help by providing an accurate baseline from which to start. Your regional Club Services Managers are available to support you through the process. CSA Supporting Notes Coaching To meet the bronze level for the first year only (2018-19), clubs need to have an active Club Coach Coordinator (CCC) who is registered with the Coach Development Department. For silver and gold levels a Qualified S&C Coach is required: Silver - an active S&C coach with World Rugby S&C level 1 or equivalent. Gold an active S&C coach with World Rugby S&C level 2 or UKSCA accreditation or equivalent. Coach Development Team contacts: scottishrugby.org/contact-us/domestic-rugby-contacts Male Adult Teams This is defined as a male adult team playing in a league or development pool competition. Occasional teams such as veterans teams provide good benefits to clubs particularly in keeping members involved with the club but are not counted for this category. Women & Girls To meet the bronze level clubs will need to demonstrate that they have offered development opportunities for girls or women in their local community. Some examples of this type of activity are running girls rugby sessions at local schools or hosting come and try sessions at their local club. The silver level relates to the club having at least one girls team OR one women s team across their rugby community. If the club runs girls teams in a local school this qualifies. Collaboration is a key consideration in this area as it can be more beneficial for clubs to combine their efforts in smaller geographical areas to create a stronger women s team than potentially dilute resources by creating individual teams. Please see notes bellow on collaboration. 7
All teams must have taken part in one of the following competitions: Women s BT Premiership/National Leagues/National Development League/Cup Girls National Cup/Mitsubishi Conferences/local area competitions. Girl s and Women s Team contact: scottishrugby.org/contact-us/domestic-rugby-contacts Youth Development This relates to teams across a club s rugby community and can include any school teams, in addition to club teams, where a club is involved in coaching and managing the teams. For the bronze level, there must be at least three teams that take part in competition at either mini or secondary age level or a combination of both. The silver level consists of a total of nine teams with teams at every age band giving clubs a complete youth pathway. This consists of a minimum of four mini teams, one at every age band P4-7 and five secondary aged teams, one at every level S1(U13), S2(U14), S3(U15), U16, U18. At the gold level, there must be 13 teams across the club s youth community which builds upon the silver level with teams at every age band and two teams at some age bands such as two teams at P7 or two S1 and S2 teams to provide the numbers for the progression to the next age band. This must consist of five mini teams and seven secondary aged teams. School teams, where a club is involved in coaching and managing the teams, may be an important element to achieving the required number of youth teams. Teams must take part in competition such as the Mitsubishi Club and School Conferences and locally organised mini rugby tournaments. Where clubs are based in communities with smaller populations, such as in rural communities, and this is a limiting factor to fielding a high number of teams we can take this into consideration if the club provides evidence of their situation, such as details of the local school roll. Please reference this and include details in your application. School and Youth Team contacts: scottishrugby.org/contact-us/domestic-rugby-contacts Match Officials The ratio of active level 1 qualified referees per club team refers to the total number of secondary aged teams from S1(U13) to adult, including men s and women s teams. Mini rugby teams are not included in the ratio as their matches have game coaches. Match Official department contacts: colin.brett@sru.org.uk 8
Strategic Direction Financially sustainable Clubs need to be financially sustainable. All clubs need to submit their accounts every season as per the Minimum Operating Standards. If Scottish Rugby has concerns that a club may be operating out with their financial means or without satisfactory financial controls this may affect clubs achieving a CSA award. Strategic Plan Well-organised clubs have a vision and plans in place for the future development of the club. Support is available from the Club Services Managers who use a club diagnostic tool to help clubs develop plans. Club Services Managers contact: scottishrugby.org/contact-us/domestic-rugby-contacts Collaboration Scottish Rugby encourages clubs to work together to create more playing opportunities in their local area. Many clubs are already working with local schools or other clubs to combine resources - often players - to field teams at youth or adult levels for both females and males. Clubs that are collaborating in specific areas and who can provide tangible evidence of their contribution will be able to use these teams towards their CSA levels. 9