Most children from deprived and disadvantaged backgrounds enjoy games and sport. Where there is a low level of education in the family sport is enjoyed normally more than the classroom. Therefore if we are going to educate this group of young people we need to use things they enjoy as a medium to learning. All sport has the benefit of increasing activity levels and helping them tackle them same issues we are trying to correct.

Sport also operates through a culture of teamwork, respect and discipline, with development of competence being encouraged through a process which depends on building the participants level of self esteem.   Given all these aspects sports of all varieties are ideal vehicles for teaching life skills.   Equally they build a can-do attitude that is essential for building self esteem, confidence and a spirit of enterprise which is increasingly important in modern society.

Rugby in particular is helpful to children who need to recognise and manage aggression and helps social interaction as it does not require a particular size or shape of individual.   There is a place for all in any rugby team as the variety of roles each demand different physical attributes.  Therefore rugby actually values the “big kid” because of their size and other smaller team members who might otherwise be tempted to mock or even bully these young people can come to value them as team mates.  In this way rugby enables young people to value the diversity around them, rather than to seek the “sameness” which often underpins prejudice.