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The Regents Review
Winter 2015
6
GENERAL NEWS
All Schools Programme
Students participating in Rugby at Regents Park have had
some amazing experiences this year due to the
‘All Schools Programme’ which we have been involved in.
The ‘All Schools Programme’ is a national initiative with
the aim of raising participation and enjoyment in Rugby
in all schools throughout the country. The programme
intends to reach over 750 state schools nationwide, which
will result in an increase of 1 million students playing
Rugby regularly. Canterbury clothing, the official supplier
of England’s Rugby kit – have also been involved by
supplying each school a full bespoke Rugby kit designed
by their students. The ‘All Schools Programme’ has the
backing of Prince Harry as its patron.
Regents Park Rugby experiences this year as part of the ‘All
Schools Programme’ have included:
•
Competing against local schools in a day’s tournament
at Winchester and Eastleigh Rugby Clubs;
•
‘All Schools‘ regular evening tournament against local
schools;
•
Twickenham stadium tour;
•
Twickenham touch tournament against other schools
nationwide;
•
Meeting Rugby legends, Jason Leonard, most capped
England player; Maggie Alphonsi, ex England women’s
flanker; Mike Catt, World Cup winner and Andy Farrell;
•
Taking part in the opening ceremony of the 2015 Rugby
World Cup.
Opening Ceremony
Regents Park, as part of the ‘All Schools Programme’ was
invited to be a part of Rugby World Cup Opening Ceremony
in recognition of their success in the scheme. 10 students,
who had demonstrated a high level of commitment and
enjoyment, from the Year 8 Rugby team were selected.
All the students were very excited at the prospect of being
involved in a prestigious, once in a lifetime event in front
of 82,000 people at Twickenham as well as billions on
television around the world.
The boys took part in a number of rehearsals at ‘Ealing
Trailfinders Rugby club’ as well as at Twickenham in the
days leading up to the opening ceremony, in preparation
for the opening night as England took on Fiji.
The boys got some sense of occasion rehearsing at
Twickenham days before the first game, but seemed to be
completely taken back when they arrived on the opening
day of the Rugby World Cup. When the boys arrived
they were ushered through crowds waiting to enter the
stadium, through security and were able to wander around
the stadium hours before England kicked off against Fiji.
The students did one final rehearsal back stage, before
being escorted past thousands of people to pitch side –
ready to walk out onto Rugby’s biggest stage.
After the opening ceremony all the students involved were
clapped and given ‘high fives’ by members of the public,
which made them feel like rock stars. The excitement of
being involved and appearing on global television was
evident on the journey back to Regents Park after England
beat Fiji with renditions of ‘World in Union and ‘Jerusalem’
being sung.