Development Planning and Funding
The Students Rugby Football Union (SRFU), Rugby Football Union (RFU) and Rugby Football Union for Women (RFUW) aim to support university rugby by assisting clubs in their development planning and providing incentive funding for delivering key activities.
To access the Higher Education Rugby Development Programme (HERDP), your university rugby club must provide up-to-date contact details, comply with RFU reciprocal funding principles, and write and submit a club or university development plan.
Planning
There are two levels of support, depending on the type of plan submitted to the RFU:
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HERDP (A one-year or two-year action plan for the university rugby club)
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Whole Club Development Plan (A four-year development plan which covers all the rugby provision within the university). The whole club plan must be preceded by an online survey and whole club workshop and must receive the committed support of the key decision makers within the university.
For more details on development planning, see the full guidance notes for 2011-12.
Plans should be submitted on the HERDP university development planning template or the Whole Club Development Plan template. They must also be signed off and agreed by relevant contacts from the student club, the university and RFU staff.
These people should be contacted in the early stages of writing the plan to ensure it complies with the general plans for the geographical area. The RFU and the RFUW have jointly produced the HERDP concept. Only one plan should be submitted per club and it should include objectives for both men’s and women’s rugby, where applicable.
Part of the aim is to encourage students to become active in running the university rugby club. The RFU has produced a list of suggested role descriptions.
