One of the things that those of us immersed in the world of rugby
are proud of is our sport’s ability to help shape individuals for the better.
The core values of rugby; respect, teamwork, enjoyment, discipline and
sportsmanship ring true at every level of the game and senior players honour their duty of ensuring that as every new generation arrives they stay true to these roots. By
its very nature rugby is an explosive and dare I say it an aggressive game
however it is always delivered with the utmost respect for opponents and
officials – something that can’t always be said in other sports. These strong values mean that our sport has the
ability to help people of any age grow and flourish.
This summer a man that has just hung up his boots after spending
his life immersed in the professional game, Ugo Monye, has taken the time to be at
the heart of a new programme. The programme is delivered by our Premiership
Rugby Clubs and supported wholeheartedly by the broadcaster that is intrinsic
to the competition; BT Sport and its charitable initiative, The
Supporters Club.
In short the Urban Rugby Squad is aimed at young adults from
challenging backgrounds and is about giving them the opportunity to grow as
people, in exactly the manner I spoke about earlier. For any of you that have
kids, cousins or nieces and nephews you will know about the power of having
positive role models and the way in which young people often look up to those
in the public eye. For many young people advice from teachers and parents can
fall on deaf ears however advice from sports stars and sports coaches often
permeate a little deeper and ‘life lessons’ are delivered more subtly to them.
Ugo is a tremendously personable guy and from a young person’s perspective he
is approachable and pretty cool for an adult! Chatting with me from Harlequins’
Urban Rugby session in Camberwell Ugo shared the admiration he has for those
hosting this programme;
“First and foremost it is a fantastic initiative, it is great to
see that even with so much focus on the Rugby World Cup there are still major
companies that want to keep investing in individuals and putting energy into
young people and rugby.”
Over the course of this summer all of our Aviva Premiership sides
have been or will be hosting similar Urban Rugby Squad sessions and then the clubs
are coming together in August for a Festival. Following that the whole
programme will culminate in a National Festival that will be held at The
Twickenham Stoop in October. For those delivering all of the training sessions and the more festivals the focus remains the same regardless of the
stage or the location as Ugo shared;
“It isn’t about trying to create a whole host of international
elite athletes; most importantly this is about having an impact on their lives
and helping individuals to become better people in their communities. I met a
young lad called Mitch today who was sharing with me how he is learning to use
rugby to get rid of some of his frustrations and focus his energy on the pitch.
We take the time to chat during sessions about what they are doing or learning and about how it can translate into their lives on a daily basis and it is just great to be a
part of.”
The forthcoming Rugby World Cup will be a tremendous celebration of those at the very top of our game however as Ugo said it is great to see the support at the other end of the performance spectrum. Personally I know how much rugby can give you as an
individual even though my background certainly wouldn't be classed as a challenging one I credit rugby for shaping me into the individual that I am today. Once again this
is a great example of the superb power of our sport and why we are all proud to
be associated with a game that can deliver so much, both on and off the field.
BT Sport Ambassador Ugo Monye was speaking on behalf of the Urban
Rugby Squad, a partnership between BT Sport’s The Supporters Club, Restart
Rugby, the Official Charity of The Rugby Players’ Association (RPA), and
Premiership Rugby. The initiative is running across all 12 Premiership Rugby
clubs throughout the summer and will see young people aged 14-16 from
disadvantaged communities across England given the opportunity to participate
in regular sporting activity and personal development workshops that use rugby
as inspiration. For more information about The Supporters Club, visit www.thesupportersclub.org
