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Ballinrobe RFC is the latest club to benefit from The Connacht Rugby Player Development Award.
The fund was created to show recognition for the work being done at mini, youth and school level by the Connacht Rugby club and school network. Almost €150k has been issued to clubs and schools around the province as part of the initiative.
The initiative works by awarding the relevant Connacht Club and/or School on foot of the player having started 15 times for the Connacht Pro team. Ballinrobe RFC received €10k this past week to celebrate clubman, Mathew Burke, achieving this goal.
The fund was initiated in 2019, however, at that time, a decision was also taken by the Connacht Rugby Board to pay out to our clubs and schools retrospectively for players they would have brought through their systems in the past, right back to the Johnny O’Connor/Gavin Duffy era.
This financial award system helps the Connacht clubs and schools to continue to grow the game at the grassroots level in their respective areas, with the hope that many more talented home-grown players will follow through into the Connacht Senior professional team.
Thus far, nine Connacht clubs and seven Connacht schools have benefited.
