Delon backs rugby reunited initiative (From Your Local Guardian)

Delon backs rugby reunited initiative

4:26pm Friday 30th July 2010 in

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England and London Irish star Delon Armitage will be at Old Deer Park in Richmond tomorrow to lend his support at the second of the O2 Rugby Reunion events, a nationwide initiative supported by the Rugby Football Union to encourage players who have drifted away from rugby to reconnect with the game and their friends.

Aimed at reigniting players’ passion for rugby, O2 Rugby Reunion uses Facebook to reconnect players with their old teams and make it easy for them to start playing again.

Using the specially created O2 Rugby Reunion Facebook application a captain can register a team and interest in a specific touch rugby event, send invites to friends and confirm attendance at the event(s) once a minimum of six team members have been recruited.

Teams can then opt to take part in either the ‘fun’ or ‘competitive’ category for their local event. Teams can also come along on the day and take part and perhaps even get some playing tips from Delon.

O2 Rugby Reunion is part of the RFU’s Play On campaign, sponsored by O2, which aims to keep more 16-24 year olds in the game as they move from school into higher education and beyond.

The Play On campaign is supported by a network of O2 Pathfinders, over 1600 volunteers who guide players on their rugby journey by connecting them with clubs across the country.

“The O2 and RFU efforts to keep people in touch and involved in the game are very important,” says the 26-year-old Armitage, who as a teenager played for a club in the south of France when his father moved there for work reasons.

“I know from experience that rugby is a worldwide family but it needs a bit of effort as a young person to stay involved when you make a move, maybe to go to college or university, or because work takes you or your family to a different part of the country or even abroad.

“Players can drift away from the sport but there is no need to and I think everyone in that 16/24 age group should know that this is the time of their lives when they can be getting the most out of the banter in rugby and the life-long friendships it can generate.

"That’s why I think O2 Rugby Reunion is such a good initiative. Anyone can sign up for one of the touch rugby festivals using the Facebook app and invite friends they may not have seen for a while, maybe since they left school, to get back together and throw a ball around again.

“The rugby is not too serious but the chance to meet up again and maybe sign up for a new club while you are at it is well worth getting into.”

Teams are invited to take part in one or more of the six regional Touch Rugby events across the UK, culminating in ‘The Big One’ in London on September 12.

Registration on Saturday July 31 opens at 10am, with the tournament getting underway at 11am.

Venue: Old Deer Park Recreation Ground, Twickenham Road, Richmond, Surrey.