Franklin's Gardens this week hosted Year Seven students from across Northampton as part of the second phase of the Travis Perkins/Sportsmatch Saints in the Schools Project.
Through the Travis Perkins/Sportsmatch Saints in the Schools Project the club has been able to bring rugby to school children across Northampton during the past 18 months.
During the past season schools have received 10 hours of coaching each, developing the basic rugby skills introduced in Year Six via tag rugby in the first phase of the project.
All of the children who were put through their paces at Franklin's Gardens had been a part of Phase One, with Phase Two introducing students to some of the more advanced areas of the game such as contact, attacking and defending, and developing game understanding.
Schools who attended this week's session include Unity College, Kingsthorpe Community College, Northampton Academy and Weston Favell School. Their students received coaching, lunch and a stadium tour, and had the opportunity to put into practice what they had learned in a match situation.
"We've received coaching at the college but it is still good to come down to the club," said Dominic Brown from Unity College in Northampton. "Sessions like this give the students confidence in their rugby, particularly in contact situations that they might not otherwise have experienced in this type of controlled situation.
"The coaching that the Saints provide is top class and I'm sure that students will be enthused by their session at the club."
"The Saints in the Schools Project has been very well received since we introduced it well over a year ago," said Sian Haynes, head of community at Northampton Saints. "We receive a lot of positive feedback and our coaches enjoy delivering the sessions to students.
"We have taken a long-term view about developing rugby in schools. Once you have introduced students to the sport you have to keep developing their skills and maintain their enthusiasm, otherwise you face the prospect of them giving up the game. This would waste all the hard work that has been put in by ourselves and the schools. Instead we want to keep building on the foundations we have laid and broaden the appeal of a great sport."
