Total Rugby participation in Queensland passes 90,000
The success of Queensland Rugby's "come and try" campaigns in schools across the state has boosted total player participation numbers in Queensland past 90,000 in 2009.
Club rugby and formal school competitions also experienced a lift in players numbers in 2009, although nothing like the 160 per cent boost in the "non-regular" competition category for schools which covers carnival-style, one or two day events. Non-regular schools participants jumped from 3,689 in 2008 to 9,615 in 2009.
The second "come and try" category - where QRU development officers run one-off "sampling programs" at schools - jumped by 70 per cent between 2008 and 2009, from 21,315 to 36,043.
"In the past Queensland Rugby has focused mainly on regular competition as the best form of participation, but we've been gradually widening the net and increasing our missionary efforts to give more kids a taste of the game and that's really taken off this year," said QRU Rugby Manager Anthony Connellan, who heads up the Rugby Development Department.
"These programs are very much club-focused: if a junior player enjoys the experience and wants to keep playing, the local junior club will reap the benefit."
QRU Rugby Development staff plan to build further on the success of the sampling program in 2010, liaising closely with junior clubs to identify or target schools and particular age groups in their catchment in order to grow junior numbers. The sampling program will be bigger and better in 2010 and be badged “Rookies to Reds”.
From 68,081 in 2008, total numbers including all categories of participation jumped by 32.8 per cent to 90,451.
Regular competition numbers rose from 43,077 in 2008 to 44,793, however some of the 10 per cent rise in senior player numbers (8,857 to 9,793) was attributed to improved senior player registration systems in 2009.
Junior club numbers went up by 4.4 per cent (14,080 to 14,701), led by the Sunshine Coast (7.1 per cent), Cairns (8.2 per cent), Townsville (6 per cent) and Brisbane (4.7 per cent).
But the biggest junior success story was in Central Highlands, where a brand new competition attracted 294 junior players in its first year, thanks to the community support of Xstrata Coal.
"Central Highlands was new territory for us in 2009 and to go from next to nothing to almost 300 players in the space of a year was really rewarding for our regional Development Officer Rob Donaghue and for Xstrata Coal, who wanted to help contribute to the health and well-being of their local community," Connellan said.
http://qru.com.au/library/news/2009/..._up,70519.html
