| Carnegie Champion Schools: ‘Tackling the future’ of rugby league in the South of England |
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The developments of the schools game has been attributed to many factors over the past decade, namely passionate teachers, local development staff and volunteers who aspire to give their players a chance to experience a school sport that has been unfamiliar to South of the heartlands for all but recent years. It is however, the values and core responsibilities of both the governing body and Carnegie themselves that has made the product so attractive to not only new and emerging schools, but firmly instils the competition in many of the Southern institution’s annual sporting curriculums. The open and inclusive ethics of the competition is reflected at all stages of the regional structure, with sub-regional festivals taking place in the likes of Richmond and Lambeth, boroughs that are at the opposite end of the social and economical scales of deprivation in the nations capital. Carnegie and the RFL offer out the Champion Schools system to all secondary schools, boys and girls, year’s 7 -11 who wish to take part regardless of knowledge and experience of the game. Contacted nationally then regionally and sign posted locally, the core objectives are to engage the education sector, but to do so in such a way that the participant’s experience is of a positive nature, hence encouraging and sustaining life long participants for the game. Now with over 65% of all schools that enter the L&SE regional festivals putting forward 2 or more year groups, Rugby League’s days of being a ‘development’ sport in the south are all but coming to an end. The 2010 finals showcased the inclusivity of the Champion Schools directives with 7 different schools represented from the 10 teams present and no less than 6 County Sports Partnerships. Bolstered by the support of the Harlequins Rugby League Club, hosting the Regional Finals at the Twickenham Stoop, the finals day entertained over 500 attendees throughout an inspiring day of secondary schools rugby league. Steve Davis the Regional Co-Lead on the Champion Schools Program and Development Officer for the RFL in the East Region commented on the competition asserting; “Once again the diverse and inclusive nature of the Champion Schools Program has been received as a great success in the South. The popularity of the competition has dictated that looking forward to 2011 the structure will aim to increase from 8 sub regional preliminary rounds to 12, accommodating over 280 boys and 60 girls teams. For the first time in the history of the south we have a national finalist in Brentwood County High at year 8, and with the continued development of the schools game, we hope this will be a permanent fixture for our region.” The London and the South East Carnegie Champion School’s Regional Boy’s results were as follows: |
Since it’s inception in 2003, the Carnegie Champion Schools Program has become firmly embedded in the South of England as the competition structure continues to grow with significant momentum on an annual basis. The 2009 / 2010 initiative saw over 190 boys and 40 girl’s teams go head to head in their local festivals and fixtures, all vying for a place in the coveted London and the South East regional finals. Notably, over the past 7 years 1003 boys teams (and 70 girls teams since 2008) stemming from over 100 schools across 10 County Sports Partnerships have been engaged in the Carnegie Champion Schools scheme in the region. 
