Nominations now open for ERDPP U13's Rugby programme

It is that time again when the Durham England Rugby Developing Player Programme is looking for nominations for players to join the programme at the u/13 age group. This is an exciting time within the ERDPP as we evolve the pathway to include u/16’s and con

tinue to work hard to develop our own coaches and also the coaches within Durham as a whole.

With regards to the ERDPP it is a pathway that is a partnership between the RFU, Durham County and Newcastle Falcons with the aim of working with the top 10% of players within Durham with the to provide them with the opportunity to progress as far as they possibly can within their rugby and for them to be the best that they can be as a player and a person.

Please be aware that we also want to consider players with the genuine potential to be in this top 10% so it maybe that you have a new player who has shown great potential despite being new to the sport. Our selection criteria is based upon the GASP model which has been developed by the Falcons and is something that we have used with great success over the previous 5 seasons to identify the best players and there is info on the form to assist you with this.

With regards to nominations use the link for the google form -

https://forms.gle/wYY3BJoti7PUQjjB8

Clubs are allowed to nominate up to 5 players who they deem to be up to the required standard and will also be allowed to nominate 1 wild card. In order to qualify as a wild card nomination players must be either a front row player and/or have been playing rugby for a short period of time but who excel in at least one of the GASP areas.

Schools are allowed to nominate up to 2 players who are with a club and up to 3 non club players as well as a wild card player - the criteria are the same as for club wild cards. When nominating players all teachers and coaches are reminded that the ERDPP is a programme tasked to work with the top 10% of players in the age group which equates to around 70 players across the whole Durham area so please consider this when making nominations. You do not have to nominate your full quota as it is important that we all manage players expectations and we don not want to disappoint players unnecessarily.

The closing date for nominations will be the 26th January and there will be an induction day for nominated players on the 1st March - details of which will be confirmed after the closing date.

I look forwards to getting your nominations for the u/13 intake and am excited to see what this group of players are capable of. Any questions please do not hesitate to contact me Regards Andrew Kennedy ERDPP Durham Manager 07772323685