What started as a rugby day program at King George School in Saskatoon has grown into something so much more.
Dream Broker students have the opportunity to explore rugby and build valuable skills thanks to a conversation that took place last year between Courtney Fleming, Coaching Director for the North Saskatchewan Rugby Union (NSRU) and Dream Broker, Breanna Northrup.
Fleming originally offered to coach a day program for King George students from kindergarten to Grade 8, but following that success, Northrup approached Fleming about expanding the program to all Dream Broker schools in Saskatoon, leading to the development of an eight-week program.
It wasn’t long before that program began to flourish with nearly 120 students and a 90 per cent return rate week after week by the participants.
“We had some Educational Assistants that were specifically assisting certain children say they’ve never seen their kids more engaged, willing to play, listen and learn. Rugby has a different culture and structure than most other sports and the kids thrived on that,” said Fleming.
As the coach for the NSRU Mini Rugby program, Fleming mirrored that type of practice structure but worked to include more active game time than seen in the Mini program.
To further propel the sessions, Fleming expanded the partnership between the NSRU and Dream Brokers to include assistance from the U of S Rugby Club. This allowed them to gain additional coaches to ensure children were provided with intentional coaching time.
With the support from the university club, headed by Leon Bourner and Alison Jeffery, one coach was able to work with roughly 5-6 kids at a time.
That guidance resulted in tangible change both inside and outside of the program.
“The big thing I noticed as well was certain groups/cliques were spread out amongst the entire group and from Week 1 to Week 8,” said Fleming, “So, you had participants interacting and saying, ‘This is awesome, let’s play this on the playground tomorrow!’ and made active plans, which the teachers had never seen before. Being able to put some of those things aside and play as one was a huge impact.”
For Michel Mercredi, Sport Development Manager for Sask Sport — which oversees the Dream Broker program — that impact is one of the reasons working with local organizations is so beneficial.
“We’re very happy to have this partnership with the NSRU and we’re looking forward to continued work with them and supporting the program so kids have the opportunity to experience a sport they probably wouldn’t be able to experience without this.”
This fall, the Dream Broker program and the NSRU will be teaming up again and will be looking to continue their successes, but this time expecting almost 200 students.