COVENTRY Rugby has announced a brand new course alongside the city’s college to prevent the career hopes of future stars with dreams of playing at Twickenham from being dashed by the collapse of the region’s two Premiership clubs.
Last year, Wasps and Worcester Warriors collapsed meaning their Rugby Football Union (RFU) funded academies also disappeared.
Coventry Rugby Club has now stepped in to help fill this void by creating a new Level 3 Certificate in Coaching (Sport and Physical Activity) course for aspiring 18-year-old players alongside the city’s college.
The one-year course will be based at Butts Park Arena and will combine studies at the college with a rugby programme.
Students joining the course from next month will learn from the Championship club’s first-team management and coaching squad, not academy coaches.
They will receive advice on nutrition, strength and conditioning, sports psychology, analysis and coaching.
Players will be given the chance to enhance their skills while also getting an education to prepare them for life after rugby.
Competition for places in academies at Premiership clubs Leicester and Northampton has become even tougher following Worcester and Wasps’ collapse.
Premiership academies currently provide the main route into the professional game for youngsters, who use a three-year apprenticeship as a stepping-stone to a full-time senior contract.
Coventry Rugby head coach Alex Rae said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for a young player to get some education while also being part of a really good rugby programme incorporating all the key elements which make them a better rugby player and a better person,” he said.
“They will be surrounded by first-team players and coaches and within a pathway that is a proven route already taken by players like Tom Ball and Fin Ogden who are currently within our senior squad. If someone comes on this programme and excels I am not frightened to give them their chance in our first team in the Championship.”
Email [email protected] for more information about joining the course.
