St David’s College & RGC Partnership

St David’s College and RGC Announce Partnership

(L-R) Scott Lawson (RGC Communications Manager), Josh Leach (RGC Performance Manager), Mr Andrew Russell (Headmaster, St David’s College), Mr Dan Lycett (Head of Sport & PE, St David’s College)

St David’s College, Llandudno and RGC (Rygbi Gogledd Cymru) are proud to announce a brand-new Rugby Performance Pathway Partnership designed to develop homegrown rugby talent in North Wales. This new arrangement will create another pathway for aspiring young players in North Wales, giving them the further opportunity to gain access to top-level coaching and award-winning education, as well as access to the WRU and their Welsh Exiles programme.

St David’s College is quickly establishing a reputation as one of the best holistic sports schools in the country. Working closely with RGC and other academic partners, the newly formed partnership will provide academic support and a clear pathway that gives students the tools needed to achieve at the highest level.

RGC will provide coaching support as well as access to their facilities at Eirias Parc. St David’s College will not only provide academic rigour and support but also have on-site strength and conditioning coaching that is accessible to boarders 7 days a week.

Mr Dan Lycett, Head of Sport and PE at St David’s College, said: “This is the first partnership of its kind in North Wales for the Independent School sector. We’re incredibly proud to be working with RGC on this Performance Pathway. We will be working closely with the RGC coaches to create individual training plans for the pupils on the pathway, allowing each of them to reach their full potential. We have our own on-site Strength and Conditioning Coach who will work with the pupils as part of their development"

St David’s College has a strong pedigree for developing young players in line with the RGC Rugby Pathway. Three of the current Sixth Form have recently been selected to play for the under 18’s regional development side with more St David’s pupils narrowly missing out.

Josh Leach, RGC Performance Manager

“We are delighted to have St David’s College onboard as an academic partner. Within our Regional Performance Pathway, our aim is to create as many opportunities as possible, for as many young players as possible, to develop their rugby alongside their education. Whilst the primary aim for any performance sport pathway is to produce athletes who move on to play at the top level of their sport, the reality is that these opportunities are few and far between, so it is vital that young players are focused on their education and preparing for life outside of sport too.

“St David’s College have invested a lot of time and effort into developing their sports programmes in recent years, improving the variety of sports available to students, the amount of contact time, the level of staff support, and the quality of their facilities.”

“With plans to progress their offerings even further in the coming years, it is an exciting time to be in partnership with St David’s College. We will be working closely with them to support the growth of their rugby programme and to support the development of RGC Pathway players who are students of the College.”

Mr Andrew Russell, Headmaster at St David’s College said “I’m so pleased that we’re establishing this Elite Rugby Pathway with RGC – “Pursuit of prowess at games” is part of our ethos, set by our founders, and this feeds directly into that.”

“It’s not just about preparing the pupils for what happens on the pitch.” He added “We’ve got a keen eye on what happens off the pitch and outside of sport too. Elite Sport is a tough world full of massive highs as well as setbacks and disappointments. At St David’s we pride ourselves on our excellent pastoral support and we are perfectly placed to ensure our pupils are ready for anything the world can throw at them”

This announcement is the first of many exciting developments happening at St David’s College. With significant facilities upgrade plans to be unveiled in the very near future preparing the site for the next generation, the future is looking very bright for the school.