Or so the morons believe...
Good to see the money invested in the real grass roots is paying off...
Rugby continues to grow as player numbers rise
31/10/2006
allblacks.com
More New Zealanders are playing our national game with player numbers continuing to rise, the New Zealand Rugby Union announced today.
The latest figures show that 141,241 people are playing rugby in 2006 compared to 137,961 in 2005, a rise of two percent, with more children, teenagers and women playing the game. Importantly, referee numbers have also increased while the number of registered volunteers continues to grow.
NZRU Community Rugby Manager Brent Anderson said the figures showed that rugby remained an enjoyable and important activity at the community level for thousands of New Zealanders.
The introduction of the Community Rugby Plan in 2004 is one of the reasons behind the rise but our clubs and Provincial Unions must be credited for their support of community rugby initiatives, Anderson said.
Mr Anderson said the Community Rugby Plan had provided Provincial Unions with the necessary tools to implement several initiatives that had contributed to a 16 percent increase in registered player numbers since 2003.
The number of children playing the game is up, with a total of 66,570 under 13-year- old boys and girls hitting the nations rugby fields each weekend, a four percent growth on the 2005 figure of 64,146, and a 23 percent jump since 2003.
Mr Anderson said several initiatives had aided the development of the game amongst young players.
The introduction of the Small Blacks programme, which is a rugby development model aimed at coaches and young players, continues to be popular. The programme has guidelines on how the game is to be played at each age for children from Year 2 to Year 7. Parents are provided with a copy of the development model to help them follow the rugby progress of their children, Anderson explained.
The number of players in the 13-19 age group is also up from 33,835 in 2005 to 34,299 this year, with an overall rise of 15 percent since 2003.
Retaining players in this age group is one of the challenges for us and we have invested $3 million in the last three years to support the administration of rugby in secondary schools across the country which has seen 300 part-time positions created.
In addition, a further $685,000 per year has been supplied to assist the Provincial Unions and the New Zealand Schools Rugby Council to run their age grade programmes.
Mr Anderson said since it was first trialled in 2004, 16 club liaison officers have been employed across the country.
We have allocated a further $1.4 million to the club liaison officers scheme aimed at helping clubs to become administratively strong and building links with secondary schools so that players leaving the school environment have a club to go to, Anderson added.
The number of girls and women playing the game has also risen from 10,578 in 2005 to 10,815 this year, with an overall increase of 41 percent since 2003.
The Black Ferns are the worlds leading national womens team and we hope that their proven success on the international stage will help encourage more women to take up the game, Anderson said.
Meanwhile, the number of referees and other volunteers has also increased. In total, 2,309 referees are now registered compared to 2,215 in 2005.
It is always encouraging to see more referees involved. They are an integral part of the game and if we can continue to attract more match officials, it will bode well for rugby.
The number of volunteers that have registered their involvement has increased from 4,641 in 2005 to 5,386 in 2006.
We applaud the tireless work that volunteers put into the game and we are thrilled that we have over 5,000 volunteers in addition to other registered coaches and referees. The NZRU and Provincial Unions recognise and reward volunteers by offering priority access to Test tickets and through a volunteer thank you programme, Anderson said.
Good to see the money invested in the real grass roots is paying off...
Rugby continues to grow as player numbers rise
31/10/2006
allblacks.com
More New Zealanders are playing our national game with player numbers continuing to rise, the New Zealand Rugby Union announced today.
The latest figures show that 141,241 people are playing rugby in 2006 compared to 137,961 in 2005, a rise of two percent, with more children, teenagers and women playing the game. Importantly, referee numbers have also increased while the number of registered volunteers continues to grow.
NZRU Community Rugby Manager Brent Anderson said the figures showed that rugby remained an enjoyable and important activity at the community level for thousands of New Zealanders.
The introduction of the Community Rugby Plan in 2004 is one of the reasons behind the rise but our clubs and Provincial Unions must be credited for their support of community rugby initiatives, Anderson said.
Mr Anderson said the Community Rugby Plan had provided Provincial Unions with the necessary tools to implement several initiatives that had contributed to a 16 percent increase in registered player numbers since 2003.
The number of children playing the game is up, with a total of 66,570 under 13-year- old boys and girls hitting the nations rugby fields each weekend, a four percent growth on the 2005 figure of 64,146, and a 23 percent jump since 2003.
Mr Anderson said several initiatives had aided the development of the game amongst young players.
The introduction of the Small Blacks programme, which is a rugby development model aimed at coaches and young players, continues to be popular. The programme has guidelines on how the game is to be played at each age for children from Year 2 to Year 7. Parents are provided with a copy of the development model to help them follow the rugby progress of their children, Anderson explained.
The number of players in the 13-19 age group is also up from 33,835 in 2005 to 34,299 this year, with an overall rise of 15 percent since 2003.
Retaining players in this age group is one of the challenges for us and we have invested $3 million in the last three years to support the administration of rugby in secondary schools across the country which has seen 300 part-time positions created.
In addition, a further $685,000 per year has been supplied to assist the Provincial Unions and the New Zealand Schools Rugby Council to run their age grade programmes.
Mr Anderson said since it was first trialled in 2004, 16 club liaison officers have been employed across the country.
We have allocated a further $1.4 million to the club liaison officers scheme aimed at helping clubs to become administratively strong and building links with secondary schools so that players leaving the school environment have a club to go to, Anderson added.
The number of girls and women playing the game has also risen from 10,578 in 2005 to 10,815 this year, with an overall increase of 41 percent since 2003.
The Black Ferns are the worlds leading national womens team and we hope that their proven success on the international stage will help encourage more women to take up the game, Anderson said.
Meanwhile, the number of referees and other volunteers has also increased. In total, 2,309 referees are now registered compared to 2,215 in 2005.
It is always encouraging to see more referees involved. They are an integral part of the game and if we can continue to attract more match officials, it will bode well for rugby.
The number of volunteers that have registered their involvement has increased from 4,641 in 2005 to 5,386 in 2006.
We applaud the tireless work that volunteers put into the game and we are thrilled that we have over 5,000 volunteers in addition to other registered coaches and referees. The NZRU and Provincial Unions recognise and reward volunteers by offering priority access to Test tickets and through a volunteer thank you programme, Anderson said.
