FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

For younger players U12-U14, it means preparation. It’s about learning the behaviours, standards, and technical elements that are expected throughout the pathway.

For the older players, we are aware that talent identification can be a challenge when taking into account the maturation and relative age effect of adolescent athletes. Being affiliated with an Academy provides the players who were perhaps missed, under-served, or simply not physically or mentally ready at the point of pathway review, an extra layer of focused development. Think of it as a safety net when the time isn’t quite right.

Most importantly for all players, it’s about continual enjoyment of the game.

From Game IQ and Athletic development, to nutrition, mental skills, and educational support for parents, everything is covered.

Bring the right attitude and a desire to improve, and we’ll match it with the support, coaching, and feedback to help you get there. Including tracking your progress along the way.

A monthly direct debit of £88 and this includes access to weekly S&C sessions, nutrition information and mental skills workshops

There is no other rugby coaching group that works in affiliation with an official Premiership academy. That means that for the younger age groups, we can prepare them for the journey ahead, knowing the exact behaviours and traits that are expected. And for the older ones, players still have a place to train, improve, and be seen again by Saracens pathway coaches. Development does not stop when selection changes.

In person sessions are for an hour, once per week. The rest of the programme is to be done in your own time, whenever it works for you.

No. Every player is welcome.
We know that some will be late developers, so it is about protecting what is right for them at that specific time of their development.

If we haven’t worked together before, please come to a trial session and see if you like it

There is no limit to numbers per age group but each training group per age is restricted to 18 players. If demand is higher for a certain age group, we will do our best to open up another training slot.

This is definitely not another academy. It is definitely not a shortcut to the academy pathway. It is also definitely not us promising future contracts.

However, when we feel it is required, we will arrange meetings with the the pathway coaches to share updates on specific players within the Rugby Buddy player development program.

We will provide as much support as possible to help you with the pathway. We will work with you on your IDP and come up with a plan to improve those things.

If you click the ‘club shop’ link in the menu at the top of the website, you will be able to access the shop where you can choose what kit you’d like to buy.

We know players already get their weekly outdoor rugby fix, so this programme is designed to complement, not replace that. With the winter weather often working against us, we use the indoor space to focus on building strong, repeatable habits in a controlled environment.