11th October 2016
Dean Cutting, Head of Barking and Dagenham College Rugby Academy explains why he is supporting the Young Rugby Ambassador programme:
Barking & Dagenham College have been on board with the programme since June 2016, after hearing about the programme at the ECRFU Growing the Game Conference.
All of our learners opted to sign up to the England Rugby Young Rugby Ambassadors programme so not only do they become a local college ambassador but they are also part of a nation- wide volunteering team with great rewards on offer.
The learners are given the opportunity to gain various rugby coaching qualifications through the college, after which we send them out to coach in the community to our partnership schools to experience first-hand situations as a group and how they deal with problems that can occur within the coaching environment and provide solutions to them through their training with us. The YRA programme ties in really well with this, as the more volunteering hours the students complete and log, the better the reward they get!
BDC offer the learner’s high-quality rugby coaching and a BTEC Subsidiary Diploma in Sport at Level 3, BDC also offer Maths and English lessons to make them develop their basic advanced skills.
The reasoning behind the college actively encouraging this programme is that it benefits everyone involved, from the ambassadors to the players in the clubs / schools and their members where they volunteer, as well as the college receiving great support from England Rugby and other partners. At BDC Rugby Academy we have had nothing but praise and positive outcomes for our ongoing people and the YRA and college Programmes from the local community and all those that have experienced the great work that the learners do.
Barking & Dagenham College Rugby Academy we are very conscious that the majority of our learners will be employed within the Sports Industry, therefore the ability to communicate with a wide variety of people of different abilities in various situations and different working environments is paramount.
BDC Rugby Academy learner, Jerry Talampas, returned to his primary school and had this to say. “Going back to my old school was a very humbling experience, to be able to go back and contribute something to the place where I learnt so much was great, to coach the boys and girls in their PE lesson took me back to when I was running around the field having so much fun and to see the smiles on their faces was reward in itself”
Barking and Dagenham Rugby Academy in partnership with the Saracens Academy launched in September 2015, and we are already making plans to introduce a Women’s Academy to be launched in September 2017.
England Rugby also spoke to Dean about the programme for their website and you can find their information here englandrugby.com
