Rugby Blindside Newsletter - January/February 2018 issue

JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2018 / ISSUE 01

IN THIS ISSUE Brixham Rugby Club Guernsey Ladies Kettering RFC Fill Your Boots

Editors' Comment

Contents Editors' Comment ..........................................01

Brixham Rugby Club Welcome to the first ever issue of the Rugby partner with Tavistock Blindside newsletter. The aim of this newsletter is to College and SKRUM celebrate and promote the fantastic work that is ..........................................02 done to support grassroots rugby clubs in England.

Aon sponsor Guernsey From sponsorship news to community projects and Ladies Rugby Team facilities development, this newsletter will keep you ..........................................03 up to date with everything going on off the pitch at the grassroots level. Kettering Rugby Club sponsored by Bennie I've been involved in rugby since the age of six and Equipment I'm sure like many other players up and down the ..........................................04 country, I can't imagine my life without the game.

It's only been until later in life that I now appreciate Fill Your Boots - the all of the hard work that is undertaken by thousands Rugby Player Exchange of volunteers nationwide that keep clubs operating ..........................................05 and players on the pitch week in week out. It's time to promote the work done behind the scenes at Commercial news from rugby clubs in England and to give credit to these the professional game unsung heroes! ..........................................06

This newsletter will hopefully be the first of many and I hope you find it an interesting read!

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Brixham Rugby Club is pleased to announce a partnership with Tavistock College and the SKRUM rugby charity based in Swaziland Brixham Rugby Football Club has signed up to become a partner Rugby Club as ambassadors with Tavistock College and SKRUM, the rugby charity in Swaziland.

Brixham RFC will be collecting rugby kit and equipment from their own and other clubs in Devon to send out to Swaziland. They will also be raising funds for the charity.

SKRUM's challenge is that Swaziland has the world's highest known rate of HIV/AIDS infection 28% of the 1,200,000 population.

The average life expectancy is 51 and 24% of all children between the age of 0-17 are orphans and 45% are classed as orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs).

SKRUM's mission is to engage the youth of Swaziland in the sport of rugby, at the same time educating 02

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participants about HIV/AIDS, inspiring better leadership in communities, reinforcing positive attitudes about gender and crossgender relations and promoting the benefits of school and education through rugby's core values: respect, discipline, passion, solidarity and integrity.

Tavistock college is the first state school to be linked with this charity and will be conducting a visit to Swaziland to help in, charity work (physical and practical), rugby coaching and education about HIV/ AIDS. This will take place in July 2018, including 9 students, school staff and partners as Ambassadors.

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Aon sponsor the Guernsey Ladies Rugby Team "The Guernsey Ladies Rugby Team has brought passion, commitment, skill and team work to the sport.

Aon Guernsey are proud to announce that they are now the official principal sponsor of the Guernsey Ladies Rugby Team. Aon plays a leading role in supporting women’s rugby worldwide through its sponsorship of the Irish and Australian women’s rugby teams and partnership with the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2017 that recently took place in Ireland.

Paul Sykes, Managing Director of Aon Guernsey commented: “We have witnessed how women’s rugby has evolved to become a truly global sport that embodies many of the values we live and breathe at Aon – leadership, teamwork, diversity and integrity.

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"Following their entrance to the RFU women’s rugby league 3 years ago, the Guernsey Ladies Rugby Team have finished top of their league on two occasions and have been promoted twice. Their success makes them great role models, and they personify Aon’s support for women in leadership roles across the globe.

"Through determination and perseverance the Guernsey Ladies Rugby Team has risen to the RFU National Challenge Women’s Championship League in just three years. The same drive and dedication to our clients has also been shown by Aon Insurance Managers (Guernsey) Limited in recent years as Aon Guernsey was awarded Business of the Year earlier www.rugbyblindside.com

this year, at Guernsey’s annual Awards for Achievement.

We are excited to be part of the development of women’s rugby in Guernsey and across the globe and wish the Guernsey Ladies Rugby Team the best for their league campaign in 2017/18”.

Kettering Rugby Club get Bennie Equipment on board as new sponsor Kettering Rugby Club has paid special thanks to Bennie Equipment for sponsoring their new Media Centre and storage container at Waverley Road.

This container will not only be the clubs new 'Media Centre' but will also hold all the pitch flags and post protectors plus training equipment.

This will save time and energy for the players who no longer have to carry this equipment a long way to the pitches. The club also offers their thanks to Bennie Equipment 04

for their kind sponsorship, delivery and installation.

One of the partnership benefits for Bennie Equipment includes the club promoting a new job vacancy at the company on the club's website!

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Fill Your Boots - the Rugby Player Exchange Fill Your Boots is a grassroots rugby player exchange which has been running successfully for two years.

Whether you are a rugby club in need of extra bodies to ensure your match takes place, or a player looking for a run-out, Fill Your Boots can help you find a game.

FYB has over 700 rugby clubs from all over the world who now follow them on Twitter.

How did the idea come about?

Racal Decca are “the world’s smallest club” and they were struggling to field a XV each week. Racal Decca formed alliances with other clubs including Streatham Croydon to share players if one of their games were cancelled each week. It was highly successful, more games were being fulfilled, meaning more games for everyone involved. The embarrassment of turning up at different clubs with only 12 players got the founders of Fill Your Boots thinking. They spotted an opportunity to create a player

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exchange program to help other grassroots clubs like Racal Decca.

Now Fill Your Boots is the place to go when clubs need extra bodies and players to make a game happen.

That is Fill Your Boots goal: make more games happen.

How Fill Your Boots Works Whether you are a rugby club or an available rugby player, send them a message via their social media channels. Fill Your Boots will then send out your requests via their social media outlets.

To make FYB successful for clubs, they need to reach more people. The more people that follow their Twitter account or Like their Facebook page, the better chance they have of helping more clubs each week. Fill Your Boots A grassroots operation for grassroots clubs!

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From the professional game...

London Irish considering investment offers "These are exciting times for London Irish as we consider our options" - Mick Crossan

AVIVA Ireland extend AVIVA Stadium sponsorship until 2025 “Aviva continues to make a significant investment in the grassroots of our game supporting the growth of our minis programme, as well as supporting the national team" - RFU Chief Executive, Philip Browne

Betfred to sponsor Rugby League Championship and League 1 Betfred will become the title partner of the Championship and League 1 until the end of the 2019 season, meaning that the UK based bookmakers now sponsor all three professional tiers of the sport.

PRO14 Rugby, The Times, Ireland Edition and The Sunday Times launch partnership 06

Newcastle Falcons Academy partners with Elm Group Ltd The partnership will run until the 2018/19 campaign.

The Rugby Football League partners with Hummel The Rugby Football League has announced a new four-year kit and merchandise partnership with hummel. As part of the agreement, hummel will supply product to the Rugby Football League and produce kit for all England Rugby League squads. www.rugbyblindside.com

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