The Sunshine Coast will have a dynamic new rugby union club in 2017, led by a team of coaches dedicated to lifting rugby to new heights on the Sunshine Coast.
Saints Rugby Club has been born out of St Andrews Rugby Club and will operate out of Peregian Springs.
The club has already had a great deal of interest with players signing up from several, different, local schools.
The emergence of Saints Rugby has been driven by Jim Scott, Head of Rugby at St Andrews Anglican College.
With an extensive coaching CV in both Sydney and in his native UK, Scott is keen to help build a local rugby culture which provides genuine representative pathways for talented, local players.
“At Saints Rugby our philosophy is simple: to create a safe, respectful and enjoyable environment where young players are given every opportunity to be the best player that they can be.
“The ability to understand the importance of teamwork, show fairness and empathy, be resilient and respect others will benefit our players way beyond the rugby pitch,” Scott said.
Saints Rugby Club will operate teams from Under 6 through to Under 14 in the 2017 season, and hopes to develop this through to Under 18s over the next couple of years.
Despite the obvious excitement and enthusiasm surrounding Saints Rugby Club, Scott was quick to recognise the importance of other clubs in the region.
“We are very mindful that rugby on the coast needs all clubs to grow if it is going to be successful. We need other clubs to be able to field junior rugby teams we are supporting this in many ways. Many local clubs field a number of teams within the same age group, but we have decided that from Under 12s and above, we will only field one team per age group, in the hope that other clubs will benefit,” he said.
Saints will kick off their season on Saturday 28 January when they will be holding a ’come and try Rugby’ open day.
The event will take place from 2-5pm at the Peregian Recreation Fields, Peregian Springs, and all children between the age of 5 and 14 are welcome.
