Roots & All is a project where we pick a few teams that don’t normally make the spotlight week in week out and feature them regularly throughout an entire campaign.
The period since our last report has been a quieter one in terms of matches, with the weather claiming a number of games. This may well have come at an opportune time as January means exam time for the students, it’s easy to forget sometimes that young players have classes to attend and coursework to do on top of their pitch and gym sessions, but we feel that we are probably more understanding than most clubs due to the years of experience working specifically with students.
We also had some exciting news at Queen’s during this period, with the approval of the University’s first Elite Athlete programme, showing the commitment to developing and supporting top level athletes. The programme is comprehensive with recipients gaining access to Individual academic support and mentoring, financial assistance against fees and living costs, campus food vouchers and tutoring on request for any athlete that is losing out on teaching as a result of sporting commitments. This is in addition to sports conditioning, physiotherapy support, media training, programme workshops/master classes with the highly qualified personnel and Individualized career advice. The package focuses on the athlete’s holistic development and we believe it is one of the best programmes available to third level athletes. Follow this link to apply for the programme.
We have also been involved in some community outreach work, setting up a link with our local special needs secondary school- Glenveagh Primary. As part of this link our students are delivering Tag Rugby coaching to a group of approximately 20 students with a view to establishing a Team that would play regular friendly fixtures. This is a very rewarding scheme and hugely beneficial for pupils with an interest in working in an educational setting, as a means to get experience. We hope to increase our outreach by also delivering coaching in local post- primary girl’s schools.
Finally, preparations are underway for our IRFU spring tag Rugby competition which was very popular last year with 22 teams and approximately 250 players competing over six weeks. This year we hope for an even more successful competition, Tag is a great, social way to introduce new players to Rugby or allow friends to continue competing once their playing careers are over.
The next update is sure to have more information on our teams and how their seasons are progressing, as the 1st XV continue their AIL campaign, the 2nd , 3rd and 4th XVs chase domestic silverware and the Women’s team get their Ulster Cup Campaign underway.
Until next time, keep the Blue Flying Flag!
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