Recruiting the Lost Boys

I have been reading a number of posts recently about the state of WA rugby. During those discussions 2 themes have been referenced which have struck a chord with me and which I thought might warrant a separate post.

1. To ensure the wellbeing of the clubs, we need to focus on the whole club not just Premier Grade and Elite players;
2. In the present economic climate we need to be smarter about recruitment.

Can I suggest area where clubs are underachieving and which might help in both regards.

We all know that from year 10/U15 onwards large numbers of PSA boys are lost to club rugby. Everyone can bleat about how club and PSA should be different days etc but nothing is going to change there.

Those boys aren’t lost to rugby at that point, they are just on a parallel pathway. The schools are also finding and developing their own players so in theory there should be more kids coming back into club rugby in colts than were lost initially (girls and other distractions aside).

The PSA schools field 14 opens teams; ie year 11 and 12 boys. The CSC schools field 10 opens teams. Allowing for 50% year 12 players, that is 12 full teams of boys graduating every year who should be moving into colts. Clearly we are only getting a fraction of those numbers.

What are the clubs doing to recruit the boys? I can only speak for PSA when I say SFA.

At the end of 2013 I spoke to every single year 12 boy coming out of *******. Only a handful of the better players were playing on. The rest had either not considered it or thought the clubs wouldn’t be interested in them because they weren’t stars. I didn’t repeat the exercise in 2014 but can’t see why the results would be any different. I have spoken to numerous boys from other schools (and their parents) and the results were the same.

Certainly the rock stars are feted, often by multiple teams. However the potential regular grade, meat and potatoes, heart and soul of the club types are not invited. These boys are 17/18 ... they need an invitation!

Some preliminary suggestions:

1. Task someone specifically to recruit school players – preferably choose someone charming and pushy;
2. Speak to the school coaches for permission to speak to the boys during the season;
3. Get down and actively recruit;
4. If the school has a post season event (and many do) ask for permission to attend and possibly speak or hand out flyers;
5. Have an BBQ/Information evening - “FREE BEER”!!!
6. Trawl through old registration info, find the contact details of the “lost boys” and call them personally to invite them back;
7. Have a clear vision/sales pitch about why they should/need to keep playing rugby and
8. Most importantly, make sure the boys know that you want everyone not just the stars;

I know some clubs are doing some of these things but I don’t believe any club is doing nearly enough. We can’t afford to lose the numbers presently slipping through our fingers.

Thoughts?

great post!