Kicking off in August 2024, the Global Rugby Players Foundation, in collaboration with player associations, launched 4 pilot programmes in Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa and the Pacific Islands. Our mission: to help players who contributed to the success of the game to reach their full potential Beyond the Game. Here’s a deep dive into how we got on in our first quarter.
Rugby Players Ireland: Beyond The Game
The Beyond the Game (BTG) programme has seen huge success in its early stages. In the last 3 months, over 130 players have been reached by BTG which is nearly double the figure reached by Rugby Players Ireland (RPI) the year before. This is a clear indication that there is great need for this programme and that it is reaching those in need.
Furthermore, a new Personal Development Manager (PDM) role dedicated to former players has been created to lead the programme, allowing players to receive the 1:1 support they need. Dr. Deirdre Lyons has been appointed and has already contacted nearly 70 players directly this quarter. One player comments:
“Leaving rugby was really hard, but your support made it easier. You helped me find something new to be passionate about.”
The support offered ranges from career coaching, mental health support or simply grabbing a coffee with a fellow ex-player. RPI explains that several players have reached out to share ideas about how best to support their peers such as coffee mornings in former player owned cafes or mentorship from those with business experience. This peer to peer connection and willingness to help is excellent to see and is a replication of what so many players experienced while playing professionally.
New Zealand Rugby Player’s Association: The Aftermatch
The Aftermatch programme is another of our pilots, run by the New Zealand Rugby Players’ Association (NZRPA). A further specialist former player PDM role has been created. Maree Bowden has been assigned to this programme and she has directly contacted nearly 100 players in Q1.
Several players have since made use of the career service support that is being made available. The career service includes multiple provisions, including CV writing, exploring networks and creating LinkedIn profiles, providing support that is highly sought after and yet not readily available elsewhere.
Having access to the NZRPA database of former players has been an invaluable tool when reaching out to players as having access to those in need can be challenging.
Such is the success of the AfterMatch, GRPF have agreed to extend its reach to players beyond 2 years past playing. We hope that this will mean we see even more positive results in Q2.
The Pacific Rugby Players (PRP) programme aims to reach players in Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. So far, we have had 50 participants with a combination from the 15s game and 7s game.
There have been 6 face to face meetings so far and the team have found that coordinating these with other rugby events makes accessibility much easier and allows more people to join.
PRP is also working with former players to understand how to set up mentoring support. The players cherish spending time with old teammates and this programme allows them to do that:
“It's so good for the soul and refreshing to see each other after so many years. I didn’t realise how good it would make me feel seeing you all”.
Some aims and objectives for Q2 include making players more aware of the Brain Health provisions that World Rugby have in place, including the head injury assessments that are available as well as knowledge of the long term impacts of concussion.
MyPlayers South Africa: Beyond The Game
Our programme in South Africa, in collaboration with MyPlayers, has utilised a different approach in support of a smaller cohort of former players. The participants have benefited from specialist support from Werner Schmidt (careers), ReBoot (transition) and North Western University (mental health). The programme is utilising a personality tool called Enneagram which is helping players develop greater self-awareness and subsequently allowing them to make personal progress. Many players have reported that the Enneagram results were welcomed, that they learnt a lot about themselves, and that even their spouses pointed out how accurate the feedback on their personality was!
The former players in this programme also have access to career development sessions with Werner Schmidt. These are online entrepreneurship lessons to help with both startups and established businesses. Over 100 conversations have already been had, demonstrating how popular this part of the programme is.
Player feedback has been overwhelmingly positive which is fantastic. In the coming months, a focus for the programme will be to provide further transition forums as these have been so well received by former players, with some saying that it "feels like being back in the changeroom."
It’s been an exciting quarter working in collaboration with excellent partners, and we are just at the beginning of our global journey together. We still have plenty of players to reach in our pilot countries and beyond. We are working hard to learn from the pilots and evolve how we can best support former players around the world while continuing the success of what we have collectively achieved so far.
If you think you could help the Foundation or want to get involved, please reach out to us: communications@rugbyplayersfoundation.com
If you are a former player and you think you could benefit from these services, please contact us today. Whatever your story, wherever you played, we are here to support you in the next steps of your journey.
