Saracens partner with Felsted School to develop rugby stars of the future

Felsted School has been named as an Official Partner School of Saracens Rugby Club, with the two organisations agreeing to work together to identify talented young players and nurture them on the path towards a career in professional rugby.

Saracens is one of English rugby’s most successful and longest established clubs. Saracen’s Men’s side has won the Premiership five times, while Saracens Women is the most successful team in the top-level Premier 15s competition and has won the title three times. The associated Saracens Mavericks are twice champions of the Netball Superleague.

Felsted has a strong track record in schools’ sport and the school has produced eight of the most exciting young players in the professional game today, including Saracens’ and England’s superstar winger Max Malins and five other top Saracens players – Alex Wardell (second row), Sam Bryan (scrum-half), Ollie Stonham (flanker), Obinna Nkwocha (second row) and Tristan Smith (prop).

‘Felsted has enjoyed a very successful relationship with Saracens for more than a decade and we are delighted to be able to officially partner with the club to offer more talented young rugby players the best possible support and opportunities for their development in the professional game’ commented ex-Wasps prop Andrew Le Chevalier, who is Director of Rugby at the North Essex independent boarding and day school.

Under the five-year partnership arrangement, Saracens’ training sessions and academy camps will be held at Felsted in school holidays, as will assessment festivals at which new talent will be identified by both the club and the school. One Saracens Academy player each year will receive a scholarship to Felsted School. In addition, Felsted coaches will shadow Saracens’ senior team coaches for a week each season and will have access to Saracens Academy coaches for specialist coaching support and workshops. A Felsted rugby coach will also join the Saracens Academy Pathway coaching programme in order to signpost players and identify talent.

‘This is a win-win situation for both Saracens and Felsted,’commented Saracens’ General Manager Phil Morrow. ‘By working more closely together, we will be able to pool our expertise and create a joined-up approach to supporting a greater number of talented young players from an earlier age, setting them on the path to excellence in the professional game.’