By Coventry Telegraph
February 25 2011

COVENTRY Rugby Club has formally launched its development initiative with the vision of creating a foundation for the club to build its future with local talent.The move supports the commitment to become a community club with future sides mainly generated from the local area.Unipart Logistics, one of Coventry Rugby Club’s major sponsors, is supporting the development activity. Young players will wear shirts bearing theUnipart Logistics logo on their chests, together with those of Warwickshire Rugby Union and Coventry Rugby Club.

This new move is centred around the Nighthawks development side and is seen as one of the next key steps as Cov continue to rebuild following the near disastrous events of over a year ago.

Chairman Peter Rossborough, a former Coventry and England full back, is delighted that Cov are in a position to be able to nurture local talent.

He said: “When I was playing nearly all of the side were local lads. Any player with talent in Coventry and Warwickshire wanted to play for Cov and we need to get back to that position.

“We recognise that we may lose some of the very best to the Premiership but we will also hopefully keep most and as we become more successful, we will be in a position to retain more and more. I think anyone who has been coming to watch matches at the Butts this season will fully recognise what a difference it makes to have a side drawn from local talent who are really passionate about playing for the club.

“This new initiative will give us and the county an opportunity to see some more of the emerging talent playing together and have a vehicle to give game time to the whole squad. We recognise that this has to be a two-way street and that we need to also provide input to the local clubs. We need the whole county game to be as strong as possible. There’s a long way to go but this is a great start. We are indebted to Unipart Logistics for their support. They are a tremendous partner, taking a very proactive role in helping us to get back on our feet and build for the future.”

Mike Varnom, managing director of Unipart After Market Logistics, is very enthusiastic about the initiative.

He said: “It’s great for us to be able to support such an illustrious club. I grew up in the city and well remember those Cov sides of old. They were truly built on local talent and we at Unipart Logistics are proud to be supporting the laying of these important foundations.”

Rossborough also paid tribute to the support of Unipart Logistics and Jaguar Land Rover for Cov’s work in schools. “There would be little point in developing older talent if we were not promoting participation in rugby with younger children.”

Coventry build future with local talent

Discussion started by Unofficial Coventry Rugby (IP Logged), 25/02/2011 09:58

Unofficial Coventry Rugby
25/02/2011 09:58

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Mick Shaw
25/02/2011 13:22

It would be nice if we could get back the Cov & Warwickshire born lads out of the Leicester/Worcester/Northampton and other academies so that those lads at acacdemies could deveope at Cov, but I dont hold out much hope of getting many back.Be nice though

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