RFU Seal of Approval



The RFU Seal of Approval is linked to the Sport England “Club Mark” scheme which is essentially a “kite mark” for sports clubs.

Initially Rugby Clubs involved in the Active Sports initiative were given the opportunity to take part in the Seal of Approval. Widden Old Boys was one of these clubs.

The club has had to evidence its current practice in the areas of Administration, Development, Duty of Care, Playing Programme & Sports Equity.

Administration : looked at how the club works regarding membership policies, child welfare, use of volunteers and risk management.

Development : looked at how we work regarding development plans, how these were arrived at, resourced and managed.

Duty of Care : looked at how we work regarding membership in both the senior and junior sections, child welfare policy, risk assessment, volunteers and serious accident and injury procedures.

Playing programme this assessed the clubs fixtures from under 8’s to seniors. The coaching programme was examined including the qualifications each coach holds and the plans to recruit and further develop club coaches in the future. Player development is an important part our plans and the vision of the club is to try and ensure all players get quality coaching relevant to their standard of play and age. Whilst working with schools and colleges to integrate players of all abilities.

Sports Equity this looked at codes of practice for players, coaches, volunteers and spectators. The seal of approval process allows clubs to review their rules to ensure that the club and the game is open, fair and supports all who wish to take part.

The process of attaining the seal of approval involves Gary Little and others from the Gloucestershire Sports Partnership with Gary Townsend North Gloucestershire RDO. They check all of the policies and practice taking place at the club to ensure all the evidence given is correct and of the right quality before submitting the pack to the RFU/Sport England.

It is a process that is well worth while. Not only does it affirm some of a clubs better areas of work, but is also a challenge to some areas that are often thought of as belonging in the “too hard basket.” It does however mean that now we aspire to working smarter to achieve our goals.

It is a great pleasure to have our efforts recognised with such an award. Especially as we are the first club in Gloucestershire to achieve this award. This is testimony to the support of our sponsors and those associated with the hard work of the club in recent times.

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