Last updated 15:54, Wednesday, 13 February 2008

RUGBY Union across schools in Cumbria has never been more active, with only 16 of 305 primary and secondary schools in the county not either playing the game or receiving coaching in it.

A recent audit of Rugby Union in Cumbria has revealed that 265 of 279 primary schools either play or receive coaching (95 per cent), while 40 of 42 secondary schools are either playing or being coached.

And while the focus of a great deal of development work on in the junior end of the game, the Cumbria RU success story is not exclusively to schools.

The growth of women’s rugby is one of the major advances being made nationwide and Cumbria is not being left behind. Plans are already in hand for a Women’s and Girls’ Forum to discuss the future of the Sport within Cumbria. The forum will be led by Liam Nicholls and Mark Harper and will hopefully lead to a structured girls playing programme for the future.

Meanwhile, back on the schools front, Garry Holmes, the community rugby coach for South Lakes, organised and ran what is hoped will become annual Year 7, 8 & 9 tournaments in the area for the first time ever, while similar events in Copeland were also well received for the second year running, with all high schools in the borough participating in two or more festivals.

A Tag Course was held in Allerdale for teachers and teaching assistants with tutors Trevor Richardson and Chris Wright bringing experienced delivery of the course.

On the club front, Workington RUFC have achieved the RFU Seal of Approval, thanks in part to the hard work of Mike Heaslip, while elsewhere the Cumbria RU are linking well with Kendal College with their proposed new developments of a Sports Village as part of the Building the Schools for the Future Programme. Kendal RUFC and Kirkby Lonsdale RUFC are also fully integrated in the plans.

Egremont RUFC have finally succeeded in securing all their funding to build their new facilities. An event was held to mark the occasion, with all the people involved in the scheme invited.

The club has around £500k to spend on changing facilities and a third generation artificial area.

Says Cumbria RDI Liam Nicholls: “Over the past few years in Cumbria we have worked hard to develop a positive working relationship with the clubs and schools. The community coaches do an excellent job in this area and it is up to me to extend that to the Development Sector.

“We have worked with a number of clubs in different areas and the developments are now beginning to bear fruit, which in turn is encouraging other clubs to work hard to develop.

“My thanks go to the clubs who are very proactive and receptive to what we as Cumbria RU and the RFU are trying to achieve, Without the hard work of this dedicated volunteer base we would have achieved nothing. Thanks also to Jim Burnell, the County Treasurer, for his support and also to Frank Sheppard and the CB Committee, who work tirelessly on behalf of Cumbria.”