It is important that clubs build up partnerships and network with a number of organisations, particularly those within their local community but also further afield. The support of partners will help your club develop and grow, assisting you in a variety of areas. For example access to funding, information and coaching, attracting future players and members and helping you to promote and publicise the work that your club is doing. Partner organisations can also be useful in terms of sharing ideas, developing opportunities and providing further resources. Outlined below are a number of partners or areas for networking that your club could possibly utilise.

Local Authorities
Your local authority will provide a number of services that will affect your club and it is worth building up a good relationship with them as there a number of areas which may have an impact on your club.

A number of clubs hire or lease playing pitches and facilities from the local authority and, therefore, it is worth having a point of contact at the club who can liase with the responsible officer within the authority for that area, usually the parks or recreation manager. A good working relationship with these officers can often help when discussing conditions of hire, pitch maintenance and any number of other issues that arise through the hire or lease of facilities.

The majority of local authorities will now also employ sports development officers (SDOs), sometimes with a particular remit for rugby, who are responsible for the delivery of the sport within that authority. They are also often specifically responsible for creating opportunities for young people to become involved in sport. It is worth drawing upon the expertise of these SDOs to help you with the development of your club, in particular junior rugby and links with the local community. They can more often than not also advise on identifying facilities and equipment, where to access advice on coaching, contacts for local coaches and may be available to give you advice on funding.

Schools
It is vitally important to have good partnerships with local schools not only to build up a good community relationship but also to help to encourage participation by children who are likely to be your next generation of players. The majority of schools will have a liaison officer who is responsible for establishing and improving links with the local sports clubs. They often welcome clubs to come into school to undertake coaching/taster sessions which also provides an opportunity to promote the club and support the community. This could potentially be done through Sport England’s Active Schools programme.

Active Schools
Active Schools is the foundation of Sport England’s commitment to involving more young people in sport. The programme aims to give schools and teachers the support, training and resources they require to provide children with the best possible sports programmes. It is worth liasing with your local school or Sport England regional office to see where there are potential areas of opportunity for your club to assist in the delivery of part of this programme by providing a cross-working relationship with the schools and their PE departments. Active Schools includes a comprehensive, integrated range of products and services for the benefit of schools, teachers and children. The products include:

• Activemark and Activemark Gold: Sport England’s new awards which are open to primary schools, middle schools deemed primary schools and special schools with primary aged pupils. They recognise and reward outstanding physical activity programmes
• Sportsmark and Sportsmark Gold: These awards recognise and reward schools that provide the very best physical education and sports provision to their pupils and local community. Sportsmark Gold awards go to schools offering exceptional provision
• Coaching for Teachers is designed to give primary and secondary school teachers the skills they need to run extra-curricular squads and clubs
• Running Sport for Schools offers support to teachers and others involved in school sport. This includes a range of interactive workshops, booklets and study packs which provide the best advice on developing sports provision in schools. There are specific courses on developing links with sports clubs, completing lottery grant applications, setting up after-school clubs, recruiting volunteers and sports development
• Sporting Ambassadors is a programme that introduces some of the country’s most successful sports stars to primary and secondary pupils. The scheme inspires youngsters to take part in sport. Ambassadors act as positive role models, especially to youngsters from ethnic backgrounds and to those living in disadvantaged areas.

In terms of other areas of sports development partnerships, clubs should look to become involved in Sport England’s Active Sports Programme which looks to link the work done by clubs, governing bodies and local authorities in promoting the opportunities for participation in sport amongst young people.

Active Sports
The Active Sports Rugby Union Programme is a five year sports development programme aimed at helping young people between the ages of 11 - 15 access rugby at a local level. It is a coordinated programme delivered at local level in 45 Partnership areas across the country with local rugby clubs at the core of its delivery. The Active Sports programme includes integrated support and commitment from a number of partners including the RFU, Local Authorities, and Sport England.