Loughborough Rugby Patronage

With 8 teams playing each season the sheer volume and level of activity that we deliver means that we use an incredible amount of kit and it’s not only the Performance Squads that we cater for, but also the wider BUCS programme and the Super Series / Intramural teams too. Each season we have a set budget for purchasing equipment but with funding cuts over the past couple of years, including a significant decrease this season due to Covid-19, there is an ever increasing amount of pressure on the budget.  We are therefore seeking the support of Patrons via the Patronage scheme to help.

As a Performance Sport, Rugby is one of the 13 sports provided with Scholarship funding by the University. This enables us to recruit some of the best undergraduate and postgradute student players across the country for both the Men's and Women's programmes, supporting those players to balance their academic and sporting ambitions. Via the Patronage scheme our aim is to supplement this scholarship offer, further enhancing our scholarship offer amongst what is now a very competitive university rugby market.

Previous scholarship donations have allowed us to support several players, one of those being Suvwe Obano, who had this to say about the funding he received from the Daryl Jelinek Scholarship:

The Daryl Jelinek scholarship meant I did not need to work 2 part-time jobs, increasing my recovery time, decreasing my injury risk and giving me the time to truly switch off. These aspects show a direct link to an increase in my perforamnce but being able to truly switch off also gave me the ability to look after my mental health alongside my physical health. I would like to thank everyone that contributed to the Daryl Jelinek scholarship - it was invaluable to me in my final year and has led to a professional rugby contract.

Each season we rely on a number of student coaches to support the programme, specifically the Men's BUCS 2-4 teams, the Women's BUCS 2 and Development teams and the Super / Series Intramural programme. These students have a keen interest in not only developing their coaching and leadership skills, but also giving back to the Club. We pride ourselves on the quality of experience they are given via the mentorship support from coaches and staff within the Performance programme, but hope to further enhance this provision with the support of the Patronage scheme.

Further details of the Patronage scheme can be found in our brochure available to download below. If you have any questions or wish to discuss the scheme further then please contact James Gallagher.