Go Play Rugby
2007 RUGBY WORLD CUP - PLAYER RECRUITMENT CAMPAIGN
Go Play Rugby, the largest recruitment drive ever mounted by a sport in the United Kingdom, has just been launched at the England training camp in Bath. It aims to bring former players back into the game and is timed to coincide with this year’s Rugby World Cup.
The ambitious £1million campaign involves more than 700 clubs and 130 universities and colleges. It is funded by the National Sports Foundation with the support of commercial sponsors Chelsea Building Society and O2.
Go Play Rugby will remind former players what they are missing and how they can get back to enjoying rugby and all it can offer. The aim is to bring 6,000 players – the equivalent of 400 new teams – back to the game.
The campaign was developed from a successful pilot project conducted in Surrey last year, which identified the reasons why players drift away from the game. Time pressures, work or family commitments were key factors in giving up and the RFU has developed strategies to deal with these issues.
Clubs are being trained and equipped with recruitment kits containing advice and materials to help them run their own local events. Tag, touch, sevens and beach rugby and a flexible approach to participation are some of the alternatives to the traditional full contact 15-a-side game which might appeal to former players.
A sophisticated nationwide advertising campaign using print, broadcast and online media and cinema advertising coordinated by marketing agency Dair will support the work of local clubs and drive people to the website www.goplayrugby.com
Potential players can connect with Go Play Rugby participating clubs by giving their postcode online or via the dedicated text number 64411.
“Go Play Rugby is the single most important grassroots rugby event in our lifetime,” said RFU Community Rugby Director Andrew Scoular.
“The game is thriving throughout England but this is our best chance to nourish the roots of the game to ensure a positive legacy for future generations to enjoy the game we love. With one year of concentrated effort we can lay the foundations for 100 years of rugby.”
Rob Andrew, the RFU’s Elite Rugby Director, believes rugby is the ultimate team sport.
“Every player who pulls on an England jersey began their rugby at a club or school. Whether you play rugby professionally or for fun, nothing beats the challenge and camaraderie of a great team sport,” he said.
“But for some social players finding a balance between family, work and club can be difficult and they drift away from the sport. There are thousands of them who just need a little help and encouragement to come and join clubs again. It’s good for us as a sport and it’s good for them as human beings.”
The advertising campaign and local and regional events will begin in August with the build-up to the kick-off of the 2007 Rugby World Cup in September.
For further information contact:
Simon Mills at the RFU on 07702 661214 or email simonmills@rfu.com
Sarah Sutcliffe at Dair on 01242 271970 or email sarah@dair.net
Go Play Rugby has a media information site www.media.goplayrugby.com
DORSET & WILTS RFU GPR CAMPAIGN.
The Go Play Rugby (GPR) campaign is all about reminding former players about what rugby offers and what they are missing. It will help clubs find them and recruit them back into the game. The campaign will also advise clubs to provide a warm welcome and a positive experience for new and returning players alike, which in turn will help retain existing members.
Club Recruitment Teams will work closely in partnership with local Dorset & Wilts RFU volunteers and RFU staff. The Club Recruitment Team will commit themselves to a planning period from April to July, followed by an intense recruitment programme from August to October. (Download Club Recruitment Team Role descriptions using link below).
Many thanks to all those Clubs that have submitted a copy of their GPR Action Plan. The next series of cluster meetings for these clubs will take place at the end of July/beginning of August (see details below).
Please would all Clubs check that the members listed on their Club's RugbyFirst web pages are only those actively committed to your club's GO PLAY RUGBY recruitment campaign. Please make any necessary changes or corrections to your RugbyFirst web pages.
Only Clubs designated as a Priority Club by D & W RFU will be able to participate in the National Campaign.
A Priority Club must have at least 3 actively committed GPR team members registered on its RugbyFirst web pages each with a RWC Recruitment Team Role. It must also have submitted a copy of its GPR Action Plan to D & W RFU GPR Campaign Manager George McElroy, gem@gemec.org.
Please note that all the GPR team members of a Priority Club will be able to access the GPR website area www.rfu.com/goplayrugby/Clubs using their RugbyFirst username and password.
The GPR website area for the General Public www.rfu.com/goplayrugby [www.goplayrugby.com] is now live.
All of the websites are continuing to evolve and new content will be added throughout the campaign. If you have any feedback please email goplayrugby@therfu.com
If you need any further information or have any queries please contact:
D & W RFU GPR Campaign Manager George McElroy, Tel: 01202 242457(H), 01202 703312 (O), 07795 595551 (M), em@gemec.org.ukg or Simon Culley, 07764 960394 (M), SimonCulley@rfu.com or Hamish Morton, 07809 199943 (M), HamishMorton@rfu.com
MEDIA UPDATE GO PLAY RUGBY PR ACTIVITY
The Go Play Rugby project will be supported by a sophisticated public relations and advertising campaign promoting our objectives of recruiting and retaining more than 6,000 adult players this autumn. Its objective is to raise awareness of Go Play Rugby in the target audience through a number of different channels at a national and local level and in driving potential players to the www.goplayrugby.com website as well as directly to clubs and events.
Overview A wide-ranging PR campaign aimed at encouraging players to take up the sport again, targeting national, regional, sport and lifestyle print media together with on air and online activity. The PR campaign will rollout in August through October
National media launch: 20 July Detailed media briefing to launch the campaign to national media, taking advantage of the July RFU England Team briefing prior to the RWC, which is taking place at the England training camp held at the University of Bath. The guaranteed audience of national, regional and specialist rugby correspondents will be augmented by news and lifestyle correspondents.
Campaign rollout Broadcast/online – this media forms the key element of the PR campaign as it reflects the media consumption habits of the audience demographic. Since the aim of the campaign is primarily to drive players towards local clubs, small local radio stations will be used in addition to lifestyle and sport online communities. Stations and sites will be provided with content, developed using campaign messages and delivered through live and pre-recorded interviews with spokespeople including England squad players, as well as through competitions which will use stash to incentivise participation. Campaign messages will be supplemented by the results of an online survey seeking to identify the reasons former players left the game (these will also be used with lifestyle media).
Regional print media – content will be placed with selected regional titles, the choice of which is determined by media buying strategy in conjunction with RFU regional media officers. Content will reflect campaign messages and survey results, but will focus primarily on driving readers towards a point of engagement with the sport, in the form of regional events built around televising the three England pre RWC test matches and the RWC England group matches in August and September.
Lifestyle media – a lifestyle focussed consumer PR programme to generate print coverage for Go Play, aimed not only at former players but at gatekeepers such as partners, families and employers. Aimed at promoting recreational, club rugby and the fact that the sport can be enjoyed in various forms without implications on work/social life. Coverage will include copy mentions, verbal references and/or footnotes with details about how to get back into playing rugby again.
National/specialist sports media – following the national media launch on 20 July this target group will be kept up to date with stories about the campaign. Go Play updates will be included in all England press releases.
News/marketing media – as above but with particular emphasis on the unique nature of the campaign.
Club media liaison – although local broadcast and print media will have been contacted via the above activities, clubs may wish to reinforce their recruitment activities through local contacts.
