Eleven young people have gone on to gain enhanced, sector-specific employment and higher education opportunities after completing a year-long programme of on-field rugby development experience and off-field qualifications.
Two graduates of the scheme, Tom Robinson and Elliott Smith, have been appointed by Brecon High and Crickhowell Comprehensive respectively, as school club hub officers, while Owen Young has been employed by Ysgol Garth Olwg.
Three of the apprentices are now studying for a foundation degree in rugby coaching and development at the University of South Wales,. Lily Gallagher has a place on a post-graduate course at Cardiff Met and four others have gained employment in sports development.
Each member of the cohort completed a Level 3 Sports Development NVQ, the first qualification of its kind in Wales, achieved a host of rugby-specific qualifications such as refereeing, coaching, first aid and a gym instructor qualification and gained a wealth of hands-on experience in coaching male and female participants of all ages and abilities in schools, clubs, girls clusters and delivering rugby events across the Blues and Dragons rugby regions.
The apprenticeship, which is supported by The Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, has been expanded in its second year to include the Ospreys region with 12 new apprentices currently carrying out a wide range of duties on behalf of the WRU rugby and commercial departments and Ospreys in the Community.
WRU Coach Core manager, Carl Scales, said, “The first WRU Coach Core apprenticeship has certainly exceeded expectations and we are thrilled with the progress made by the apprentices during the course of the year. They gained valuable coaching and rugby development skills, but their personal development has also been hugely significant, from communication and confidence to employability. Many of them would admit it has given them real direction in their lives.”
Jess Hancock, who has taken up a place on the Foundation Degree in Rugby Coaching and Development at University of South Wales, along with two of the other graduates of the WRU programme – Dan White and Kyle Raubenhaimer – said: “The WRU Coach Core apprenticeship has given me a massive confidence boost and especially improved my communication skills. I’ve always wanted to work in sport but I definitely don’t think I could’ve achieved my potential without having gone through this programme.”
Owen Young is now a rugby officer at Ysgol Garth Olwg. He added: “The WRU apprenticeship has certainly given me the experience and qualification I needed to enable me to gain this role.
“The programme opens many doors, not purely within the world of rugby, you could go down any sporting route after completing the year. It hasn’t been all plain sailing – but that was made very clear to us from the start – it’s not just rugby coaching which is what I was used to. I didn’t do very well in school, but the support we’ve been given has helped me achieve an important qualification which was vital in gaining employment.
“My biggest achievement during the year was establishing girls’ rugby at Mountain Ash Comprehensive. Until then there hadn’t been any girls’ teams at the school, but there was clearly an appetite and my fellow apprentice Cameron Douglas and I, with the help of Anthony Palmer, our apprentice link officer, worked hard to set up touch teams and festivals and now there are girls’ teams in every year group.”
Gary Laybourne, Coach Core Project Manager for The of the Royal Foundation said: “The Royal Foundation have been delighted with the progress of the apprentices on the first-year programme. Thanks to their hard work and that of their support teams, they have really set the bar high for future cohorts and we are really excited to see where their journey takes them next.
“We are also sure the quality of their coaching work and the engaging nature of this programme means the communities in which they served would have benefited massively and we are so pleased that a second cohort of apprentices will pick up the baton left by their peers.”
Ian Jones, Head of Work Based Learning at NPTC Group of Colleges, the WRU Coach Core learning provider, said: “We have built a strong relationship with the Welsh Rugby Union and the results from this cohort speak for themselves – the opportunity has given the apprentices a springboard to a career in the sport and leisure industry.
“The partnership with the WRU is going from strength to strength with further apprentices being recruited who have just began their journey on the apprenticeship programme. They now have this exciting opportunity ahead of them and as a College we are delighted to be part of its continued success.”
The apprenticeship programme is supported by the European Social Fund.
