30 March 2005
Forget about the Lions for a moment. This weekend it’s the Sharks who are making waves in London.

The Shoreditch Sharks is a community youth rugby club launched in Hackney and Islington last November by the Rugby Football Union.

They play their first home games in Shoreditch Park at Under-11 and Under-15 level against Old Abbotsonians on Sunday, April 3, starting at 10.30am, when Islington Mayor Joan Coupland, local councillors and sports development staff will be among the spectators.

“We set out to give kids in the area the chance to play rugby and this is the culmination of four months of hard work since they started training at the end of November,” said Middlesex RFU Rugby Development Officer Chris Sigsworth.

“So far we’ve recruited about 40 players aged from 10-15 from schools in the two boroughs and they’ve been coached by RFU qualified coaches from the local community and the nearby Old Street club.”

The Sharks played their first games – and scored their first tries – away from home at Uxbridge earlier this month, when the Under-15s beat Old Abbotsonians 27-0 and the Under-11s lost 30-15.

And later this season they’ll be taking on teams from Millwall RFC, who are already providing rugby for kids of all age in Tower Hamlets

The Shoreditch Sharks initiative for nine to 14-year-olds was launched by Sigsworth and community rugby coach Ronnie Barry with support from Pete Ward from University College London, the players from Old Street and with the backing of several local authority and sporting partners.

The London borough of Hackney provides the pitches and Britannia Leisure Centre provide changing facilities and refreshments after the game.

Rugby is now being played in local primary and secondary schools as the RFU development team works closely with CEA@Islington – who provide schools services in the borough – and through the School Sport Coordinator networks. 

The club has also received support from Middlesex RFU Youth Trust, EC1 New Deal, London Active Partnership, the London borough of Islington and Shoreditch Our Way.

The number of children taking part in rugby in England increased by 16 per cent in the year after England’s World Cup victory in November, 2003.

Since then the Rugby Football Union has helped launch three new inner city clubs in London – in Brixton, Peckham and Shoreditch – as part of an overall strategy to make rugby more accessible to children in the capital.

Four of the RFU’s Rugby Development Officers – Sigsworth, Matt Davies, Matt Mitchell and Stuart Power – lead the initiative in the metropolitan areas of Middlesex, Essex, Kent and Surrey respectively.

Under them are four community rugby coaches – Barry, Chris Green, Patric Redding and Tom Williams – who teach the game to kids, train teachers and help existing clubs develop their youth sections.