Summary
We were commissioned by the Welsh Rugby Union to undertake a governance review of the Welsh Schools Rugby Union.
Approach
The review has been carried out in three phases. Firstly to consult with the Welsh Schools Rugby Union, the WRU and schools themselves. This was carried out through workshops and an online survey.
Outcome
We felt it important to define the difference between the role of the Welsh Schools Rugby Union and Rugby in Schools.
The results of this consultation led us to develop four potential options for future structures based on the need of the sector. We felt that there are three key functions needed to develop Rugby in Schools building on the present infrastructure.
These three are:
- Participation – increasing opportunities and formats of the game
- Competition – high quality competition at an appropriate level both within and out of school curriculum time
- Workforce – development of teachers, coaches and other volunteers
Based on these as being the three key functions of developing rugby for school aged children we have developed our options:
- Continue to operate as at present
- Have a schools competition group who run competition and bring all other areas of schools development in house to the WRU
- Restructure the WSRU to ensure representation of all areas that affect development in schools and provide greater support to the union with professional staff
- Use professional staff, employed by the WRU to develop rugby in schools, the current union retains its position as an advisory group rather than a delivery group
We recommended option three to make sure volunteers have maintained involvement whilst taking into account the investment and drive from the WRU.