It’s official: participation in rugby union is at an all-time high thanks to investment at grassroots. Statistics released this week by the British Market Research Bureau are backing up that statement and the RFU is standing proud over evidence that its community initiatives have paid dividends.
According to BMRB research, interest and participation in the sport among young people has reached a new high: 54 per cent of 11 to 14-year-olds now watch or play rugby at least once a month compared to 41 per cent in 2003. Over the same period, the number of 11 to 18-year-olds playing youth rugby rose 50 per cent, from 66,000 to 99,000.
Andy Lees, the English RFU's national clubs development manager, told BritSport Weekly that the ‘GoPlayRugby’ campaign – an initiative launched in the build up to the 2007 Rugby World Cup to strengthen the game at a time when interest in the sport had been “flatlining” – can be thanked for laying the foundations for increased participation in the sport.
“In my view [GoPlay] started the process. By making clubs see they need to constantly recruit, keep their websites up to date and be player-friendly, GoPlay was responsible. We continue to have contact with the clubs and the investment that has occurred over the past four years needs to continue for the next four years.”
GoPlayRugby targeted lapsed adult players – those who participated in the sport at a young age but failed to carry this on into their later life – and had a range of initiatives from changing the ways rugby clubs were working with their local community by improving websites and clubhouses, to summer initiatives such as beach rugby to keep awareness high during the off-season.
“It was the first-ever national community rugby recruitment campaign by the RFU and from our point of view it was very successful,” said Lees. “We targeted 600 clubs to get 6,000 players involved. What we got was a total of 700 clubs and 9,500 players, 50 per cent over target and way in excess of what we envisaged.”
In addition to contributions made by clubs and local authorities, around £1 million was invested into GoPlay, by the RFU, the government’s National Sports Foundation and sponsors such as mobile phone provider O2 and the Chelsea Building Society. Conservative RFU estimates show that each new player is worth on average £450 to £500 to a club per year.
Interest in rugby union, of course, rests greatly on regular and highly-engaging elite-level matches, easily accessible on television. To keep rugby on the up and up, the RFU faces a big challenge over the next few years to maintain interest when the majority of high-profile events are broadcast live exclusively on pay-television. Three major rugby properties – England autumn internationals, the Guinness Premiership and the Heineken Cup – all signed pay-television deals for live rights starting from 2010.
“In an ideal world it may be that we [the RFU] would have all rugby on free-to-air,” believes Lees. “The Six Nations is the biggest draw for rugby television audiences and having that on free-to-air is a very good thing. But there needs to be a balance, no-one denies that pay-television brings a great amount of extra income into the game and this money can be reinvested into grassroots. But I think the balance at the moment is about right.”
Participation initiatives continue this year with the ‘PlayOn campaign’ targeting player retention by tracking players as they go through their “rugby journey” from school to college, university and club. With the next Rugby World Cup only two years away, the RFU remains focused on keeping rugby on the upward path.
