Aberavon Schools U15 Rugby squad has achieved a major sponsorship coup by enlisting the support of education technology specialists Aspire 2Be for their forthcoming Dewar Shield campaign.
The 16 fixture schools competition played annually between Welsh towns starts each September and is one of the oldest and most prestigious in world rugby. First commencing in 1904‐05 through the philanthropic support of Baron Thomas Dewar heir to the famous Scottish whisky distillery empire, the competition has traditionally been a major stepping stone for player development in Wales.
Despite defeating eventual winners Cardiff, Aberavon failed narrowly to qualify for the final from the knockout stages of last season’s competition. Head Coach Michael Dyer is very optimistic that the support from his new sponsors will help them take that extra step in this year’s tournament.
‘Aspire 2Be has sponsored a new squad monitoring tool; called ‘SportZone’, it is the same player management programme used by the NZ Super Rugby Champions 2015, the Highlanders. As well as providing analysis of our games, which this year are all videoed, ‘SportZone’ provides the link between us the coaches and management and all our players. The programme allows us to monitor the squad’s status in real time irrespective of their school or location, this includes; injury and rehabilitation, training, nutritional support, performance and their physical and mental wellbeing.
All this is achieved through the players and coaches mobile devices. It really is a super piece of kit and we are very grateful to Aspire 2Be and Writemedia the software developers for its provision and for the outstanding training that goes with it. Used to its full potential, it will greatly assist the 2016/17 campaign’.
Ably abetted again by Foard Cooksley, Michael knows the task in hand is difficult but is still very confident that the help from his sponsors will prove significant. ‘Both Directors of Aspire 2 Be, Simon Pridham and Jeremy Stephens are former Aberavon schoolboys themselves and members of previous Dewar shield campaigns. Jeremy was a pupil at St. Joseph’s and Simon at Dyffryn. They both know how significant this competition is and how important it will be to all the pupils in the town, especially those coming together for the first time in the new super school at Bae Baglan’.
Aspire 2Be are digital training and education technology specialists. Welsh based at Pencoed, they are staffed by skilled educators, ICT technicians, former headteachers, Directors of education, local authority leaders and WG education advisers. You can follow their work on www.aspire2b.eu on Twitter @Aspire2Be1 and FaceBook / www.facebook.com/aspire2be1.
Writemedia Sports Limited, a Welsh company based in Pembrokeshire, provides many software solutions in Sports for clients who include the WRU, Golf Union Wales, Welsh Ladies Netball and Sports Coach UK. Projects undertaken include both community and player/athlete development in Sport.
Follow Michael and Aberavon Schools Dewar Shield progress this season on Twitter #One Town
