– Participation buoyed by increasing state school popularity -Scottish Rugby has surpassed its strategic target to grow its playing base by over 50%, two years ahead of schedule, pointing to the steady recovery of extra-curricular state school rugby as key to the sport’s consistently increasing popularity. The number of schools regularly playing the game has risen from 184 in 2008 to over 240 in 2010, thanks in part to a successful state school specific programme run in partnership with the Scottish Widows Bank which rewards and supports school staff who give up their time to take extra-curricular rugby while providing increasing amounts of free training kit to the school as the sport develops.Head of community rugby, Colin Thomson- Participation buoyed by increasing state school popularity -Scottish Rugby has surpassed its strategic target to grow its playing base by over 50%, two years ahead of schedule, pointing to the steady recovery of extra-curricular state school rugby as key to the sport’s consistently increasing popularity. The number of schools regularly playing the game has risen from 184 in 2008 to over 240 in 2010, thanks in part to a successful state school specific programme run in partnership with the Scottish Widows Bank which rewards and supports school staff who give up their time to take extra-curricular rugby while providing increasing amounts of free training kit to the school as the sport develops. The burgeoning uptake in state schools, particularly S1-S3, is crucial to the rise in the number of people playing the game at all levels where there are now 25,000 under 18 players playing regular rugby compared to 15,000 just four years ago. Scottish Rugby head of community rugby, Colin Thomson, said: We have channelled a lot of energy into developing state school rugby and through our regional network supported by sportscotland, in partnership with clubs and local authorities, have delivered over 19,000 rugby sessions to over 180,000 primary and secondary school children in the last year alone. Together we fund a network of 75 club development officers around Scotland who develop and grow rugby at all levels in their area. These figures are testimony to their shared success. Following a development restructure in 2006, Scottish Rugby focussed firmly on growing the game and set the ambitious target of increasing participation from 24,500 to 38,000 by 2012 however today – two years ahead of schedule – the governing body published total playing figures of over 38,500. However, despite commending the existing partnerships Thomson – himself a former PE teacher – believes that the issue of sport in state schools needs to be addressed to allow rugby to continue to flourish. Sport can play a huge role in the development of young people, teaching respect, self-confidence, motivation, discipline and determination, while binding social communities and offering a sense of belonging. We’ve specifically targeted the early secondary S1-S3 age groups – the habit forming years – where we introduce children to the game and offer good pathways to their local club or after school club, but we have to get more buy-in from the education authorities, local and national government. This recent growth remains on a fragile footing and will take up to five years to convert into adult participation, providing that children continue to get the opportunity to play rugby year on year. If we’re serious about sport moving towards the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow we should be serious about state school sport because if we don’t do it in our state schools we won’t get anywhere. It’s essential that all children are offered the opportunity to attend extra-curricular and after-school sports clubs throughout their school years. To do so we need more support and recognition for the teachers taking after school sport in order to build a healthy and active culture within every state school. Following the success, Scottish Rugby will now review its strategic objectives and renew the targets for positive growth for 2012.Scottish Widows Bank Rugby Champions scheme Run in partnership with Scottish Widows Bank, the initiative aims to increase the number and amount of rugby played in state secondary schools while rewarding the dedicated school staff who give up their spare time to take extra-curricular rugby. The programme operates by rewarding the school’s registered rugby champion with personal coaching kit, and provides the school with specialist rugby equipment for coaching and training; additional equipment is then provided as rugby develops at the school in accordance with levels of participation.