In this week's Club Communications you'll find important updates on the upcoming Girls Cup competitions and Youth Player Development Programmes for the 2023/24 season. We also bring important reminders on RugbyRight, Serious Injury reporting, funding applications and the Blueprint Roadshows.

Girls National Cup & Shield competition for 2023/24 confirmed
Scottish Rugby has today confirmed the 2023 competition format for the U18 and U16 Cup and Shield competitions.

The Girl’s U16 National Cup and Shield Competition shall be contested by the five teams from the inspiresport Girls National League Division 1 competition – Annan, Biggar, Dumfries Saints, Shetland and Stirling County.

The teams will play each other on a home and away basis with Round 1 taking place on 28/29 October.

In the Girl’s U18 National Cup and Shield Competition Biggar, Dumfries Saints, Garioch and Stirling County – the four teams currently participating in the inspiresport Girls National League Division 1 competition – will go head-to-head in three rounds of fixtures beginning on 4/5 November.

Across both age groups, the teams finishing their pool in first and second place will go on to compete for the National Cup title, with teams placed third and fourth contesting the National Shield.

All four Finals will be held at the annual Youth Finals event, set to take place at Scottish Gas Murrayfield and Hive Stadium on Sunday 17 December.

Remaining U16 and U18 teams across the county will shortly hear from Scottish Rugby’s competitions team to create localised playing opportunities to ensure continued access to meaningful game time.

All fixtures can be viewed on Scottish Rugby’s website via the link here.

RugbyRight - final call to complete!
RugbyRight is the minimum standard e-learning course for coaching and refereeing contact rugby in Scotland (U9/P4 – Adult) for the 2023/24 season.

It is extremely important that ALL coaches and referees complete this course as it is a new minimum standard for this season, and is directly linked to the Club Investment Fund payment.

The deadline for completing this course is Tuesday 31 October and we would like to remind all clubs to work with their coaches to ensure that all coaches have completed by the course by NEXT WEEK. Click here to go to RugbyRight.

Reminder: Funding applications
Scottish Rugby has opened applications for Growth & Particiation funding and the Revenue, Capital and Major Capital Investment strands of the Club Sustainability Fund.

Applications for the funding streams close on Sunday 26 November.

More information plus supporting documents can be found via the links below.

Growth & Participation Fund Click Here

Club Sustainability Fund Click Here

Reminder: Serious Injury Reporting
As a reminder, the following injuries (whether they be sustained during training or game play) should trigger a serious injury report:

A catastrophic injury – this should be reported immediately via SCRUMS and in addition your Club Rugby Board representative.
An injury requiring referral for further care e.g., to. Hospital for further treatment or investigation or to GP etc for ongoing management.
Injuries that are treated internally by a Club or School Medical staff member
ALL concussions injuries should be logged via the SCRUMS injury reporting tool as close to the time of injury as possible.

Youth Player Development Programmes 2023/24
Throughout the second half of the 2023/24 season, a number of Player Development Programmes will be delivered by Scottish Rugby for nominated boys and girls.

The programmes outlined below provide identified girls and boys with additional training and playing opportunities to complement their club/school activities. The programmes also act as a selection opportunity into further player development and performance programmes.

Girls Player Development Programmes

Girls Regional Game Series
• For nominated U16 and U18 girls - nominations open in November 2023
• Scheduled to take place in January and February 2024 (full details to be announced in November)

Girls Player Development Hub programme
• For nominated U15 girls - nominations open in January 2024.
• Scheduled to take place in April and May 2024 - full details announced in January 2024.

Please note: All girls development programmes will be for players in the identified age groups using 1 September eligibility cut off (to align with international representative eligibility criteria).

Boys Player Development Programmes

Boys Player Development Hub programme
• For nominated U15 boys (nominations open in January 2024)
• Scheduled to take place in April and May 2024 (full details announced in January 2024)

Please note: Boys PDH programme is for U15 players using 1st January eligibility cut off (to align with international representative eligibility criteria).

To learn more about the Development Programmes view our information deck linked and watch our webinar below.

For more information on the player development programmes click here.

There's also a webinar on these here.

Sign up to our Blueprint Roadshows
Scottish Rugby is pleased to announce that the Blueprint Roadshows will be returning for the 2023/24 season.

The roadshows will see the launch of the Blueprint Curriculum for the youth boys and girls games – as well as details around early pathway opportunities for youth players.

We strongly recommend that coaches of U14-U18 players attend the Roadshows, but mini and adult coaches are also welcome to see what to build up to/what skills players will be working on in their learning journey.

The Roadshows will be delivered by the Game Development department, along with coaches from the FOSROC Academies, these roadshows offer the opportunity for coaches to engage in sessions to develop Blueprint principles within their coaching.

We have created a Blueprint Bitesize Module for more information – access via SCRUMS > Browse Courses > E-Learning > Blueprint Bitesize

Roadshow Dates

Monday 20 November - Glasgow North - Ravenscraig
Wednesday 22 November - Edinburgh - Scottish Gas Murrayfield
Monday 27 November - Borders – Borders College/Gala RFC
Wednesday 29 November - Caledonia North - Highland RFC

Further roadshow will be confirmed for Aberdeen, Glasgow South and Caledonia Midlands for February 2024.