By Paul Smith 
Coventry Rugby have joined forces with The Futures Trust to offer an exciting pathway to professional rugby and top-level netball and by doing so have further developed the club’s links with state schools in the city.
Aimed at pupils finishing year 11 in July, this partnership enables ambitious rugby and netball players to develop their careers with Coventry Rugby while simultaneously pursuing one of a range of available education options provided by Post 16 Select – the joint sixth form provision for Barr’s Hill, President Kennedy and Stoke Park Schools.
This dual pathway programme aims not only to prepare young men and women for sport but for also for life by providing formal qualifications to all those who take part that allow them to achieve their individual aspirations in sport and life.
Subject to course choices, the academic side of the course is likely to be taught at Barr’s Hill School in Radford.
Coventry’s Butts Park Arena-based management and coaching team will deliver the rugby content while Coventry Netball will base their coaching input at Barr’s Hill.
Coventry Rugby ended season 2023/24 as 13th placed rugby club in England and the highest-ranked club in the West Midlands while their netball arm under Wes Blair has ambitious development plans.
Post 16 Select offers outstanding teaching with some of the broadest range of post-16 subjects in Coventry. Last year, over 95 per cent of year 13 students progressed to university or degree apprenticeships with many going to Oxbridge or Russell Group universities to study medicine or other sought-after courses.
According to Coventry Rugby chief executive Nick Johnston, this new partnership will do much more than connect a rugby and netball club with a convenient locally-based education establishment.
“This will allow athletes to continue their rugby development while gaining academic qualifications from a school ranked in the top one per cent nationally for progress,” he said.
“Candidates will need to first attend and impress at trials early in 2024 and they will also need to meet Post 16 Select entry requirements before being allocated a place for September.
“This combines genuinely great sporting and educational opportunities delivered by organisations that are both committed to excellence and the tough entry demands reflect this.
“We are especially pleased that this new partnership connects our club’s rugby and netball departments with some leading educational practitioners in the state sector.
“We are very committed to growing both sports from grassroots to elite level and it is therefore essential that this opportunity is accessible without constraints.”
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