Competition finalists will have their stories displayed at the Kick-offs and Keep-sakes exhibition in the National Museum, Cardiff from 8th September and attend its launch on 16th September 2015.
The exhibition will be supplied with a range of fascinating artefacts, memorabilia and historically significant items which relate to RWC from WRU archives.
Weird and wonderful gifts presented to the union by visiting sides, such as a hand-carved whales tooth from Tonga or a unique totem pole from Canada, will take pride of place alongside the likes of Paul Thorburn’s left rugby boot – which kicked the conversion to hand Wales third place in the 1987 RWC – and a matchball signed by the winning New Zealand side that same year.
“The exhibition promises to be a fascinating insight into not just Welsh involvement in World Cups over the years, but also the unique history of the tournament in general,” said WRU chief executive Roger Lewis.
“We hope that the competition launched today will help capture the imagination of children around the country as excitement towards rugby’s showpiece event builds to its expected frenzy next September.”
The WRU will host eight RWC matches – including two Wales games – at the Millennium Stadium and the exhibition, the first of its kind at the National Museum, opens just four days before the first match in Cardiff (Wales versus Uruguay on 20th September).
“The exhibition will form part of the Festival of Rugby 2015, which will be hosted across the UK between June 10 and October 31 in association with the world cup,” said WRU chairman Gareth Davies, whose own playing career stopped short of a RWC appearance when he hung up his boots in 1986, but who has gone on to both write about rugby and excel in the high level administration side of the game.
“I’m very much looking forward to reading the entries for this exciting competition.
“We know that rugby plays a special role in the national psyche in Wales and this competition will hopefully both tap into its popularity amongst the school children and help us reach out to those who are yet to get the bug.”
Launching the competition today (Monday 27th April) at the Millennium Stadium, alongside Mr Lewis and Mr Davies Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism, Ken Skates commented: “I’m excited to be launching this fantastic competition which brings together all the elements of my portfolio – culture, sport and tourism! By encouraging young people to record their experiences of rugby in Wales, whether they are playing, watching or hearing their friends and families talk about it – we are aiming to create a collection of stories that showcase rugby in Wales from the grass roots level right up to national team performances.
“This competition gives young people an opportunity to develop their literacy and digital skills in an engaging and fun way. Story telling is a great way for children to let their imagination grow and learn more about themselves and the world around them and I look forward to seeing the entries.”
The competition comprises three categories and the overall theme is rugby in Wales:
Poetry for 7-9 year olds
The poems must be no longer than 250 words
Short Story for 10-12 year olds
Short stories must be no longer than 500 words
Digital Storytelling for 13-16 year olds
Films must be no longer than 3 minutes and may include photographs, video, animation, sound, music, text, and narrative voice.
The entries will be judged by a specially selected panel of judges comprising rugby personalities, authors, librarians and media experts and finalists will be announced early September.
Libraries, museums and archives across Wales will be putting on activities to help young people generate ideas for their stories or poems, develop skills to help with creating digital stories and showcasing their rugby and sporting heritage collections.
The competition is open until 20th July 2015.
