Burnley SSP Tag Rugby
On Tuesday 13th March 2018 Burnley Schools Sports Partnership (BSSP) held their yearly Yr. 5/6 Tag Rugby Festival, unfortunately due to weather Burnley RUFCs pitches were not fit so BSSP secured the Prairie Sports Village 3G Pitch, 25 teams attended on the day with over 250 children playing rugby on the day, with 3 girls most on the pitch at the same time.
The event took on a different format this year with the RFU have stipulated that Under 11 competitions must have no end-result, whilst remaining competitive. The game is designed to encourage tries, 2 hands must stay on the ball always and as soon as the players’ tags are grabbed they must pass the ball. The game looks to promote running, evasion dodging and passing, all skills needed for rugby at an older age.
- Schools were split in to 5 groups of 5
- In the initial stage, scores were kept to re-pool schools in to like abilities
- Teams who finished 1st were all put into one group, all the 2nd place in to one group and so on…
- The initial group stages saw over 300 tries scored.
- All Children Played same amount of games.
- In full Festival format.
The event was a massive success and the children all showed some fantastic skills. Burnley Rugby club did a fantastic job of hosting the event and a massive thank you must be said to them and all their volunteer coach’s players and officials – Howard Metcalf, Martin Churchill, Adrian Knowles & Anthony Clark, who took time off from work to help make the event such a success.
School Games Organiser Helen Tyson said – “The standard of rugby in Burnley is extremely high, this is due in no small part to the work of Simon Finnan at Burnley Rugby Club. He is the Burnley community rugby coach, funded by RFU and Burnley School Sport Partnership, and puts a lot of effort in to getting around the Burnley primary and secondary schools. We’d like to thank the Rugby club for hosting the event and helping with the officiating.”
The standard of Tag Rugby that was played at the event is testament to the good work that has been happening in schools because of the School Sport Partnership coaching programme and the hard work of community rugby coach Simon Finnan.
Burnley School Sport Partnership is aimed at increasing participation in children’s sport. BSSP is part of the School Games programme, which is a unique opportunity to motivate and inspire millions of young people across the country to take part in more competitive school sport.
Well Done All – St Joseph’s Park Hill, Cliviger x2, St Mary Magdeline’s, Wellfield, St Stephens, Padiham Green, Christ the King, St Augustine’s, St John’s Padiham, Holy Trinity, Cherryfold, Rosewood, Briercliffe, Barden, Casterton, Stoneyholme, St James, Whittlefield, St Leonard’s, Lowerhouse, Ightenhill, Padiham Primary, St John’s Burnley,