Balbriggan recognised with award for Spirit

THE Spirit Programme is designed by the IRFU to provide enhanced safeguarding training for club welfare officers (CWO) to promote the welfare of all mini and youth players in clubs across the country.

Each province has a spirit officer, with Stephen Gore filling the Leinster spirit officer role.

The Spirit of Rugby programme aims to support players, coaches, volunteers and parents within the game and to educate them about their rights and responsibilities on and off the field.

Each CWO was invited to attend the provincial welfare seminars to ensure all coaches and managers have been vetted, with club education workshops also being delivered.

Balbriggan RFC were

presented with the first Spirit of Rugby Award at the Ireland-Italy Six Nations game last weekend, in recognition of the work carried out by their CWO.

“Balbriggan RFC and their CWO have really embraced the Spirit Programme and ensured that all stakeholders involved in the club are aware of their responsibilities,” Gore said.

“Lisa Kelly, Balbriggan’s CWO, has been very pro-active ensuring that all volunteers working with age-grade teams have been vetted and has delivered workshops to the coaches and parents informing them of their codes of conduct, the IRFU long-term player development pathway and signposting them to the IRFU youth players’ nutrition programme ‘Eat to Compete’ to help them with the dietary needs of their players”.

For more information on our spirit programme and on how your club can win the Spirit of Rugby Award, contact Stephen Gore at stephen. gore@leinsterrugby.ie