This has been needed for a while.
From the Herald
Picking up the rugby dropouts
09.03.2004
By WYNNE GRAY
The Rugby Union aims to place administrators in 300 secondary schools as part of their wide-ranging plan to grow the grassroots of the sport.
In releasing details yesterday about the community rugby plan, NZRFU chief executive Chris Moller said $945,000 had been set aside to hire the administrators by the middle of the year.
That involved having one person work in a school for 10 hours a week for 21 weeks.
The administrators would reduce the burden on school staff by arranging programmes, organising gear, training and schedules.
Moller said a pilot project was launched in 40 schools last year. It had led to a 17 per cent rise in player numbers and an increase of 14 per cent in referees and coaches.
A further $140,000 had been budgeted for a pilot scheme in clubs and $350,000 for a marketing campaign.
About $200,000 has been tagged for the introduction of Rippa Rugby (free sets to 1500 primary schools at the start of term two) and $130,000 for research into rugby patterns.
Moller said there were a series of objectives in the community project, which was an extension to the international and NPC programmes announced last year.
The main target was to make rugby the first-choice sport for New Zealand children under the age of 13.
Appointing secondary school and club administrators was part of the project to address the drop-off in rugby players aged between 13 and 19.
"There are reasons for this [drop-off]," Moller said. "Three that have been identified are that youngsters have more sports to choose from, that they find the need to work, and that there is a concern over safety [of the game at that age]."
Clubs needed to be further resuscitated while some specific plans for Greater Auckland had to be installed. There were more players in Auckland than anywhere in New Zealand. However, it had the lowest percentage participation compared with other areas in the country.
From the Herald
Picking up the rugby dropouts
09.03.2004
By WYNNE GRAY
The Rugby Union aims to place administrators in 300 secondary schools as part of their wide-ranging plan to grow the grassroots of the sport.
In releasing details yesterday about the community rugby plan, NZRFU chief executive Chris Moller said $945,000 had been set aside to hire the administrators by the middle of the year.
That involved having one person work in a school for 10 hours a week for 21 weeks.
The administrators would reduce the burden on school staff by arranging programmes, organising gear, training and schedules.
Moller said a pilot project was launched in 40 schools last year. It had led to a 17 per cent rise in player numbers and an increase of 14 per cent in referees and coaches.
A further $140,000 had been budgeted for a pilot scheme in clubs and $350,000 for a marketing campaign.
About $200,000 has been tagged for the introduction of Rippa Rugby (free sets to 1500 primary schools at the start of term two) and $130,000 for research into rugby patterns.
Moller said there were a series of objectives in the community project, which was an extension to the international and NPC programmes announced last year.
The main target was to make rugby the first-choice sport for New Zealand children under the age of 13.
Appointing secondary school and club administrators was part of the project to address the drop-off in rugby players aged between 13 and 19.
"There are reasons for this [drop-off]," Moller said. "Three that have been identified are that youngsters have more sports to choose from, that they find the need to work, and that there is a concern over safety [of the game at that age]."
Clubs needed to be further resuscitated while some specific plans for Greater Auckland had to be installed. There were more players in Auckland than anywhere in New Zealand. However, it had the lowest percentage participation compared with other areas in the country.
