A rugby career naturally takes place right in the public eye. Although much of the work involved in winning matches takes place on the training ground, it is the results you achieve in front of thousands each weekend that really matter.
As a result of this, you will likely find that you build a public platform for yourself alongside your rugby career.
This platform can be hugely useful in securing brand partnerships and boosting your wealth, both during your career and after. But crucially, it can also be a way for you to champion social causes and charities that mean something to you.
You might understandably feel put off using your position to do this for fear of a backlash. Yet actually, research from UK Sport shows that 66% of UK adults believe that athletes have a role to play in championing causes they believe in and raising awareness of social issues.
So, if you are inspired to use your platform for good in some way, there are many different avenues you can explore for doing so.
It is also National Sporting Heritage Day on 30 September, an event dedicated to the incredible stories that sport can tell and how this unites communities around the world. This event could be a timely opportunity to think about causes and organisations you might want to support.
Read on to discover five positive ways you could use your rugby platform for good.
1. Create an ongoing relationship with a charitable cause
Starting or contributing to a charity might be the first place your mind goes to when you think about using your platform for good.
Many rugby players have started or supported charitable causes. Some notable examples include:
- Doddie Weir and the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, seeking to tackle motor neurone disease and providing support to those with the disease and their families
- Lewis Moody, who set up the Lewis Moody Foundation to fund research into the diagnosis and treatment of brain tumours
- The 10 players, including international legends such as Jonny Wilkinson and Dan Carter, who set up the Global Rugby Players Foundation, supporting elite rugby players with their retirement from the sport.
Supporting a charity could involve anything from donating directly from your wages each month, to setting up a meaningful cause to tackle an issue that has affected you and your loved ones.
2. Donate your time to organisations in your local area
There are alternative ways to donate to charities and other worthwhile causes aside from financial support. Indeed, offering your time can be just as valuable.
There will be countless organisations in your local area that would gratefully accept your help supporting their work. It can also be worth speaking to your club as they may have already developed links with various foundations and trusts you could offer your time to.
These organisations can benefit both from the contribution you make while you are volunteering, and the boost to their profile they might get while having an athlete like you on site.
Even if you can only find one or two days a month to volunteer between your hectic training and match schedule, this can be a powerful way to use your platform.
3. Contribute to training the next generation of rugby players
When you think back to your early days of rugby, you no doubt remember many coaches who had a significant impact on you. Their wisdom and inspiration may be part of the reason that you have the career you do today.
So, you may want to consider inspiring or contributing to training the next generation of rugby players. That might involve speaking to young players and sharing insights into the life of a professional athlete, or participating in training sessions to help them improve their performance on the pitch.
However you decide to do it, working with young players can be hugely rewarding, especially if you see their names on a team sheet in the future!
It can be worth speaking to your club again here, as they may be able to get you involved in the youth set-up.
4. Use the power of your social media presence to promote causes
One of the biggest difficulties you might foresee in using your platform is the time it could cost you, especially during the busy rugby season. Fortunately, this is where social media can be particularly powerful.
Social media platforms allow you to reach many people instantaneously and, thanks to your very public career, it can be easier to develop an online following. So, you can use this opportunity to promote charities or meaningful causes on your accounts.
It is sensible to make sure that this is within the policy of your club before you start posting. But, as long as this is the case, your social media channels can offer an effective and potentially less time-consuming way to use your platform and inspire change.
5. Work with rugby decision-makers to institute change
If you really want to make a long-lasting impact, you might want to think about working with rugby decision-makers at the top of the sport. You could do this by directly contacting the Rugby Football Union (RFU), or advocate on behalf of your teammates and colleagues through the Rugby Players Association (RPA).
Through these channels, you could look to improve the way the sport is run, perhaps in terms of diversity and inclusion. Or, it might be in wider social engagement, encouraging leaders to put a greater emphasis on using the social status of rugby to do pro-social work in communities across the UK.
This could be a great way to make use of your platform as a force for good on a larger scale.
Get in touch
At DBL Asset Management, we can help you organise your wealth so you can focus your attention on your rugby career.
Email enquiries@dbl-am.com or call 01625 529 499 to speak to us today.
Please note
This blog is for general information only and does not constitute advice. The information is aimed at retail clients only.
