USA Youth and High School Rugby (YHS) is thrilled to introduce the New Club Growth Fund, the Ignite Growth Fund, an initiative to grow grassroots rugby clubs.
Supported by Imagine Rugby as part of the World Cup Growth Plan, this program seeks to fuel the growth of rugby at the youth and high school levels and cultivate the next generation of rugby players. YHS has secured $100,000 in initial funding, with more funding earmarked.
YHS President David Pool commented “Ignite is a testament to our unwavering commitment to the sport and our belief in the power of the youth game to drive the overall growth of the sport in the United States. As our SYROs and youth rugby community continue to drive forward, we recognize the need to provide opportunities for passionate individuals to establish clubs that will become the bedrock of rugby’s future.”
“The Ignite Growth Fund is broadly based on our very successful New High School teams program, supported by the US Rugby Foundation” noted Giovanni Vaglietti, YHS Executive Director. “There will be a strong emphasis on sustainability and building out of the entire rugby ecosystem within the framework of approval. We will look to create a tiered funding structure that provides incentives to those who add Boys and Girls teams to the club. In addition, working to build out the coaching and referee pool with us will provide some further funding incentives.”
- Financial Support: The program offers financial support to individuals and groups interested in creating new rugby clubs. Building a club from the ground up can be challenging, and our fund aims to ease the financial burden of initial setup and operation.
- Community Building: Rugby’s strong culture, values, and ethos make rugby clubs the center of their communities. This fund hopes to build off that culture and provide communities where everyone can come together and benefit from it.
- Sustainability: The Fund emphasizes the long-term sustainability of new clubs. We aim to support initiatives that will establish clubs and ensure their continued success and growth for years.
- Coaching and Administration: As part of the YHS support the new Clubs will get a 1-year subscription to the Customizable YHS/Six Degrees Coaching Platform along with the YHS best practice Administration guide.
Applications for Ignite will open in Fall 2023, with further details on application contents to be announced shortly.
We invite passionate rugby enthusiasts to take this opportunity to establish clubs that will nurture the love for rugby in their communities.
