Sport Industry Group

Rugby Sevens gets Commonwealth push- 2 Jul 2009 00:00:00

The International Rugby Board has joined forces with the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) to fund a new initiative aimed at increasing the competitiveness of Rugby Sevens in North America.

The four-year coach education programme, developed in collaboration with the North America West Indies Rugby Association (NAWIRA), will further boost the level of Rugby Sevens in two of the six Commonwealth Regions in the build up to the Delhi 2010 and Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Canada and the USA have traditionally dominated competitions between countries in NAWIRA but with Sevens increasingly gaining ground in new markets around the world, many non-traditional Rugby nations are focusing on developing the high-octane, crowd-pulling form of the Game.

Nations such as Trinidad & Tobago, the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands have lately been further encouraged by Rugby Sevens’ inclusion in the Pan American Games and the campaign for Olympic Games re-inclusion to make their mark in a sport which bases much of its appeal on its genuine competitiveness between nations from around the world.

Commented IRB chairman Bernard Lapasset: ‘The IRB invests over $5m annually in NAWIRA Member Unions through individual Union development and High Performance grants, Regional tournament support and administration grants.

‘However, we believe that a specific need exists to boost competitiveness in Sevens and the new tailored Rugby Sevens Coach Education Programme is designed to contribute to achieving that aim.

‘In the longer term, we hope to see more teams from these two Commonwealth Regions in a better position to compete and challenge for medals in future Commonwealth Games.’

The coaching programme will begin in 2010 with a three-day training course that will be available to all NAWIRA Commonwealth Member National Coaches.

This will be followed by a series of courses in 2011 targeted to member countries whose performances indicate that they have the potential to qualify for future Commonwealth Games.

An additional course is planned for 2012 and in 2013, member coaches that were not targeted in 2011 will receive further education and mentoring in their country.