North Midlands schools reach Tag to Twickenham finals day
18/06/10 by Paul Bolton
ST LAWRENCE Primary School from Church Stretton in Shropshire and Ashperton Primary from Ledbury have booked their places in this season's Tag to Twickenham finals day at Rugby School on July 7.
The two schools qualified from the Midlands West regional finals day held at Dudley Kingswinford RFC having progressed through county qualifying tournaments.
The Tag to Twickenham programme is the competition pathway for primary schools playing tag rugby. The programme incorporates coaching delivered under the RFU's Tag Rugby programme, which is sponsored by Yazoo, and the local, county, regional and national festivals pathway that is run by Child Victims of Crime in partnership with the Police.
RFU Yazoo Tag Rugby reached the landmark of one million primary school children attending sessions in late 2008; just over two years after the sponsorship started. Local festivals follow these coaching sessions, providing the opportunity for schools to link with their local clubs.
Working in tandem with these festivals, CVOC's Tag to Twickenham includes a programme of community engagement with Police and Community Support Officers delivering tag rugby in their linked schools. Over 600 officers are trained each year between August and April by the RFU National Tag Rugby Development Officer.
They use tag rugby, a non-contact version of the sport, as the vehicle to engage young people before delivering vital personal safety and citizenship messages through the Tackle Safety resource. Child Victims of Crime is also the charity of the British Police rugby section.
The Yazoo and CVOC programmes join up under the Tag to Twickenham banner to provide a national competition. All schools receiving coaching sessions are invited to take part in the county festival pathway and then winning schools progress to 10 regional Tag to Twickenham festivals.
Schools who participated in the Midlands West regionals finals were: St Stephen's, St Edward's Junior HS, Stafford Preparatory, Flax Hill Junior School, St Ann, Kingsland Primary, Coalbrookdale & Ironbridge Primary, Alvechurch Middle School, Northleigh Primary, St Lawrence Primary (Church Stretton), Ashperton Primary, Coleshill Heath Primary, Coundon Primary, Stivichall Primary, St Mary & St Margaret's Primary, Rakegate Primary, Castlecroft Primary, St Joseph's School, Allesley Primary, Christ the King, St Gregory's Catholic Primary, Blandford Mere Primary, Pennine Way Junior School and Hasbury Primary School.
