The sport I am going to be looking at is Rugby union, as this is a sport I have played for many years, and have an interest in the way the sport has changed.

Since England's triumph in the world cup, the RFU have started a programme called "Community Rugby". The Community Rugby scheme was started because of the numbers of non- professional adult players dropped to a very worrying level. For information on the Community Rugby scheme see appendix. The RFU also run coaching badges, this is where they train people to a recognised level so they can coach child and adult teams to the level that the RFU train there players to. These badges run at the levels of:

* Tag

* Level 1

* Level 2

The details of what each level can be used for please turn to appendix.

Funding

All clubs have to be a member of the RFU to play. They charge their players a membership fee to play; this money goes towards equipment, kit and the up-keep, and insurance of the grounds and with some clubs the stadiums. Some clubs have a 'club shop' which sells training kits/tops, gum shields, and memorabilia such as scarves, hats, and shirts for them to show their teams colours. With the RFU's Community Rugby Programme, also helping to increase funding. Funding also comes from the Sky TV contract and Twickenham. Sky put money in to the sport in order for the rights to show most of the Premier league and International fixtures. Twickenham make a lot of money from revenue of tickets and tours of the stadium which is put back in to the sport.

Sponsorship

Below are a few of the logos from the sponsors of the RFU and English rugby.

All the teams at the elite stage have sponsorship deals with well known companies, and if it was not for these sponsorship deals many clubs would have to pack up, or are unable to compete at the top level where they were when rugby was first established, clubs such as Moseley and Coventry, are such examples. The international team has its own sponsors the main team sponsors are;

* O2

* Nike

The mobile phone network O2 have been the sponsors of the England team since taking over BT in May 2002 and have done a lot to promote the sport, such as giving discounted SMS alerts to O2 users on all the news to do with the England team throughout the world cup. Nike has been one of the largest sports clothing/equipment manufacturers for the past decade. Nike has been the manufacturers of the England kit over the past few years and has developed a very influential and beneficial relationship with English rugby and supply the England schools kit as well as the international squad. Nike have worked closely with the stars of the England team to develop the new look dri-fit design kit that they wore to the world cup. There are many other sponsors in rugby other major sponsors are;

* Tetley's

* Heineken

* Lucozade

* Gilbert

* Zurich

* Rhino

* Cadburys

* Powergen

Tetley's bitter and Heineken larger, sponsor the two main cups that the top clubs compete for, the premier league that all the top clubs play for is sponsored by Zurich insurance company. Gilbert makes and provides the balls to the premier league and for international games, they also supply some of the lower leagues but most of the clubs have to supply the balls out of their own money. Lucozade make isotonic drinks, they supply the England squad with a never ending stock of drinks, and they also supply some of the league teams with drinks, Lucozade supply the team with the drinks because the public see the International team drinking their drink and think that if they drink the drink they will become one step closer to becoming as good as their idols. Oliver Sweeny and Hackett's of London supply the England players with smart dress and shoes. This also applies to all the other sponsors if the top players are seen using or wearing their equipment or clothes, then others will do the same as they want use the same as the best.

Provision for/pathways for elite performers

Primary schools in the area do very little rugby, but the local club Brackley RUFC try and go into the schools and run training sessions and try and get the kids to go and play for them. The diagram below shows how players progress through the ranks to become an elite performer.

Additional agencies and bodies

The RFU have an additional body that have an additional body that run the 'Ground match' scheme, the aim of the scheme is to finance capital projects to improve facilities and which contribute to the recruitment and retention of community rugby players. For full details of the scheme please see appendix.

Provision for male/female competitors.

Rugby Union is a very male dominated sport but over the past few years it has become very popular in females. The male aspect of the game has much more funding, and chances for the elite performers. In the female aspect of the game the ladies have fewer teams for example in the local area there are nine men's teams and only one women's team. There are fewer professional teams as well but they do have an international side that has the same amount of tournaments and they also have a world cup. The rules of the game differ between the two sexes as well, for example in the men's game you can lift in the line outs and fly-hack, but in the female game you can do neither of these. This could be down to the men having a different build to the women, but in my opinion this is quit sexist, I believe that a sport that is enjoyed by the males should be enjoyed equally as much by the females at the same level with the same prospects.

Provision for disabled participants- local/elite

Rugby for the disabled is a game that is played in wheelchairs. The game is played on a standard Basketball court using a volleyball, there is a goal at each end of the court. Wheelchair rugby is a game designed for tetraplegics or people with an upper limb impairment, and is open to people of all ages and both sexes. The governing board for wheelchair rugby in the UK is GBWRA. For other details please see the appendix. There are a very few sponsors of wheelchair rugby, which I think is disappointing as these people are a credit to English Rugby because they are trying to live their life to the max even though they are disabled. Some of them have done this by representing England at the Paralympics where they came third.

Critical analysis/evaluation

I am going to look at how much the men's game is promoted and supported compared to the female's game. The men's game is watched worldwide thanks to Sky TV who pays to do this, so they are promoting the sport and supporting them by giving them money. The men's game has over twenty sponsors that support them by supplying them with equipment. The women's game is very rarely shown on TV. They have some of the sponsor that supports the men's rugby but not all of them. I think this wrong because the female game is just as good as the men's game but is not as widely known about because it has less publicity, for example the Female Six Nations, England's female rugby team rarely on to TV as the male team have most of the coverage in their Six Nations.

Michael Haines P.E Mr. Taylor

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