Sports students lead primary school team to victory in regional rugby competition
June 17, 2022

Sports students lead primary school team to victory in regional rugby competition

Please note: This article was published on June 17, 2022 and may contain information that is no longer current or up to date.
Harry English and Alex Hawkswood with children at Eastern Green Junior School

A pair of sports students in Coventry have made winning debuts as coaches after returning to their local primary school and leading their team to victory in a regional rugby competition.

Coventry College students Harry English and Alex Hawkswood helped youngsters at Eastern Green Junior School in Coventry advance to the next round of the Engage Rugby Competition after claiming victory in a tournament at Old Coventrians RFC.

The pair took time away from their academic rugby training schedule as part of their Level 3 Extended Diploma in Sport to coach and support the students at their old school in preparation for the competition, including coaching a version of rugby union that focuses on core skills such as catching, passing and running evasion, along with the core values of teamwork and resilience.

Eastern Green’s boys’ team will go on to play other winning schools in the region as part of the next round of the Engage competition.

CV Life’s Engage programme aims to get young people and families across the city playing rugby to positively impact the wellbeing and prospects of children and young people, particularly those in the more disadvantaged areas of Coventry.Harry said:

 “It was great to see that when they played in the tournament they listened to our advice and succeeded, and even better that we were able to do this at our old school.”

Pete Glackin, Head of Rugby, Sports Development and Academies Manager at Coventry College, said: “Harry and Alex conducted themselves very professionally while being incredibly enthusiastic about their coaching roles with Eastern Green.

 “It’s great that their hard work has been rewarded with progression to the next round with one of the teams, and everyone involved should be very proud.”