ScottishPower Warriors Rugby Championship kicks off for 2017

ScottishPower joined forces with Glasgow Warriors for a second year to launch the ScottishPower Warriors Rugby Championship at Scotstoun stadium on Tuesday 21st February. The schools competition will promote active, healthy lifestyles amongst young people and provide 20 schools from across Scotland with the opportunity to play against others at a professional club while looking for the future stars of the game.

The Championship was officially launched at Scotstoun with pupils from Annan Academy, St Andrews RC, Kyle Academy, Belmont Academy, Queen Margaret Academy and St. Thomas Aquinas RC Secondary along with several members of the Glasgow Warriors squad and coaching team, including Gregor Townsend and Scottish rugby ambassador Al Kellock. The competition is a fundamental part of ScottishPower’s three-year sponsorship of Glasgow Warriors and its commitment to supporting grassroots sport in Scotland.

Building on the successes of last year, this year’s tournament will see the number of schools increase from 16 to 20, involving over 800 young people. Each school will take part in qualifying events played at Scotstoun throughout March before the winners from each day progress to the semi-final stages. The winners of the semi-finals (to be held in April) will then face off at Scotstoun in the final of the tournament ahead of the 1872 Cup clash between Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh Rugby on Saturday, 6 May.

Designed to encourage maximum participation and teamwork, the competition format requires each school to field an S1 and S2 boys team, as well as an under-15s girls’ team with matches between each school effectively becoming a “best of three” where every game counts.

The champions will get the chance to meet their heroes with a team coaching session run by Glasgow Warriors stars, as well as getting their hands on the ScottishPower Warriors Rugby Championship trophy and brand new rugby kits for their school. Throughout the tournament, all schools participating will have the opportunity to learn from the Glasgow Warriors players within a professional environment at Scotstoun.

Guy Jefferson, ScottishPower Director of Distribution, said: “We’re delighted to be working with Glasgow Warriors again this year to help promote rugby in local schools. The ScottishPower Warriors Rugby Championship is a fantastic opportunity for schools to encourage students to get active through sport as well as providing them the chance to play rugby at the home of one of Europe’s premier clubs."

Alastair Kellock, Scottish rugby ambassador, said: “Following the successes of last year’s tournament, we are excited to return for a second season and continue to inspire the next generation of rugby players. As well as giving local students the opportunity to play at the home of Glasgow Warriors and to access our professional environment and players, rugby is a great game to develop valuable skills in teamwork, communication and decision-making which the students can take into other aspects of everyday-life.  Our relationship with ScottishPower and our work in the community are both very important to us and this championship allows us to bring the two together.”

Aileen Campbell, Minister for Sport in Scotland, said: “Increasing rates of physical activity is a key aspect of our drive to make Scotland healthier and fitter, and having programmes like this will help us achieve that as well as introduce possible future stars to the game. ScottishPower and Glasgow Warriors have made a huge success of establishing this new competition - to have 20 schools and over 800 students taking part in the tournament is fantastic. The opportunity to play at the home of Glasgow Warriors will be a memorable experience for these young players and I wish everyone the best of luck.”

The ScottishPower Warriors Rugby Championship was recently shortlisted in the ‘Grassroots Sports Sponsorship’ category at the UK Sponsorship Awards 2017 alongside Yorkshire Bank, McDonald's, O2 and Playstation. The winner will be unveiled in March.

2017 school participants include:

For more information on the ScottishPower Warriors Rugby Championship, please contact Jen Ward or Tom Hallam on 0131 561 8628 / 0798 354 7727 or email spwarriors@stripecommunications.com.

Notes to editors

About ScottishPower:

• ScottishPower is part of the Iberdrola Group, one of the largest energy companies in Europe, and the world leader in operating wind energy.  Iberdrola’s main operating areas are Spain, the UK, US, Mexico and Brazil
• In the UK, as well as being a major retail energy supplier, ScottishPower manages the electricity network which supports millions of homes and businesses and is one of the largest producers of renewable electricity
• The company now manages more than 5.6 million retail customer accounts
  SP Energy Networks look after more than 100,000 km of power lines and over 30,000 substations, delivering electricity to more than 3.5 million homes and businesses in Scotland, the North West of England and North Wales.