Our trip to the Brighton Community Stadium

By  Freya C, Balfour Primary School

We were invited to visit the Brighton Community Stadium to have a good look around and to get an idea of what it will be like during Rugby World Cup 2015 in September.

We saw the changing rooms, also the press conference room as well as getting a look at the actual pitch.

Balfour pupils in the changing room

We asked lots of questions about the build up to Rugby World Cup 2015.

We learnt lots of interesting facts during our trip, including;-

·        The pitch at Falmer uses 3G artificial grass

·        All four of the Rugby teams, USA, Japan, Samoa and South Africa, who are playing in Brighton, have already been to have a look round the stadium where they will be playing

·        There will be only three  days between Brighton football matches and the first Rugby match on September 19 so the staff will have very little time to sort out the pitch

·        They need to use a tractor to help lift the Rugby posts into place

100 days to go!

Today marks 100 days to go until the start of the Tournament on 18 September.

To celebrate Westdene Primary School’s Boys Choir shared their enthusiasm for Rugby World Cup 2015 in song! They also took time out at the start of the school day to throw about a couple of Rugby balls on the school field.

The school's boys’ choir is one of 20 from schools in England and Wales selected to be part of the ceremonies that will officially welcome the teams to Rugby World Cup 2015.

Westdene Primary School Boys Choir
(Photo credit: www.snapitnow.co.uk)

Emma Bright, Music Co-ordinator for Westdene Primary School in Brighton, said: “We are thrilled Westdene Boys Choir has been chosen to perform at the welcome ceremony for Japan for Rugby World Cup 2015. This is probably the most prestigious performance we have ever given & the boys are already working incredibly hard to be sure they give their best performance possible!”

Emma and the choir
(Photo credit: www.snapitnow.co.uk)

The Boys Choir is one of three choirs at the school. It has been running for just under six years and currently consists of 22 boys aged eight to ten years old. As part of the application process, Emma submitted a short clip of the boys performing at the school’s Spring Concert.

During the ceremonies, the successful choirs will sing the official Rugby World Cup anthem “World in Union”. The boys have so far learned one verse of the song. They will be working hard to be pitch and word perfect by the time the Japanese team arrive. 

The ceremonies will also include the formal presentation of official Tournament caps and Rugby World Cup 2015 participation medals.

100 days to go

Managing Director of England Rugby 2015, Stephen Brown, said: “Congratulations to Westdene Primary School on being selected to be involved in the Welcome Ceremonies for Rugby World Cup 2015. We were really pleased with the response that we got from schools wanting to be involved. The standard of the applications was very high and I would like to thank all schools that took the time to apply.”

Below is the test piece Emma sent as part of the application to be one of the choirs to perform at RWC2015 welcome ceremonies in September. The film was taken at the school's Spring concert.

Dressing the city

By Bec Britain from Same Sky 

Local community arts charity Same Sky has been charged with 'dressing the city' as we celebrate rugby in September 2015.  We hope to make it a riot of colour for visitors and teams as they explore Brighton & Hove.  We'll be hanging banners at the station, filling shop windows with rosettes, adorning the clock tower and lining Madeira Drive with flags.

Making a rosette

As inspiration, we've taken colours from the four visiting teams flags (USA, South Africa, Japan and Samoa). As these four teams also represent four continents, and us as the host nation the fifth, expect to see the shapes and colours of the continents featuring too.

Celebrating Rugby!

So to get ahead, we've started on the rosettes which will be displayed in shop windows from Queens Road to The Old Steine.  These larger than life rosettes feature oval centres (of course, because the world's not round, it's oval!), and 300 metres of ribbon to be pleated. Our first batch of red, white and blue are done, with two more colour combinations to come. 

Rosettes ready for the celebrations

They also feature a reminder of The Costume Games - the carnival that will accompany the Tournament weekend in Brighton & Hove, your chance to join in the dressing up! 

Proud to be in The Pack

Rugby World Cup 2015 has recruited thousands of volunteers to welcome match-goers to the Tournament and help with essential tasks. More than 20,000 people applied to be part of “The Pack”. Only 6,000 spaces were available.

Two local Rugby followers found out recently they have been selected to be part of The Pack. Claire and Bill are passionate about Rugby and keen to be a part of the Brighton & Hove matches in September.

Claire

“My name is Claire, I work at the University of Brighton as the Sport Participation and Experience Manager and sport plays a pivotal role in my life.

“Rugby is a sport that I took up to fulfil a dare over 13 years ago and I was quickly captivated in my first training session. Rugby is a game like no other; it evokes a spirit of teamwork and fair play at all levels. Rugby clubs create a community for its members where players and supporters look out for each other on and off the pitch.

“Learning that the Rugby World Cup was coming to England and specifically to Brighton & Hove meant putting my name in the hat with 1000’s of other Rugby fans to try and secure a role volunteering for the sport I love. An application form was filled in, an interview was attended and then the wait was on to see if I was lucky enough to be chosen.

“I’ve been offered the role of Sports Presentation Field of Play Assistant. This means I will be working in a floor management capacity, supporting the operational production team in the match venue tunnel and around the perimeter of the pitch. I can’t wait!

“The only drawback to my role is that I will no longer be able to watch the games from the stands and my tickets will be donated to Rugby friends that weren’t lucky enough to get tickets in the initial ballot.”

Bill

“I am excited and delighted to be offered a place in The Pack, only one of 1250 volunteers nationwide to be recruited from the general public.

“The next part of my journey will be two one-day training sessions where I will meet with other volunteers from all over the south of England where I can look forward to sharing our expectations and challenges for the roles we have been appointed to.

Photo credit: www.snapitnow.co.uk

“Then to the event itself in September, when, as a member of the Spectator Services Team I will be meeting, greeting and guiding fans and supporters from the competing teams by providing them with the warmest of Brighton welcomes.

“Looking forward so much to the next few months and being part of a unique experience for our city.”

Findout more about how The Pack was selected in our previous blog entry

Under 20s in Brighton

Under 20s brought Rugby to the Brighton Community Stadium for the first time.

The Brighton Community Stadium transformed in style into a Rugby venue to be proud of for the England Under 20 v France Under 20 Six Nations finale last month on 20 March. 

Photo credit: ProSportsImages

England Under 20 produced a scintillating second half performance to beat the French team 24-11, winning the Six Nations title in the process. 

The evening also saw a very happy crowd of Rugby fans who witnessed the first Rugby match to take place on the Brighton Community Stadium’s pitch.

Photo credit: ProSportsImages

The U20s game was a success in terms of ticket sales too. A total of 12,615 people filled the seats to watch the match. This is the highest amount of tickets ever sold for an England U20s Six Nations match.

One of our bloggers and member of The Pack, Bill Hadgkiss was in the crowd. Bill said: “England Under 20 clinched the Six Nation's crown with a superb second half performance to beat France. This was my first visit to the Amex. The stadium is superb with excellent facilities for the spectators and proved to be a great venue for the match. The pitch was in perfect condition and the two large screens at both ends relayed the match live together with action replays." 

Photo credit: ProSportsImages

Bill added: "Full credit also to the marshalls managing spectators’ safe exit from the ground and access to Falmer station. All this together with a great atmosphere bodes well for Brighton to host the two Rugby World Cup 2015 matches in September.”

Photo credit: ProSportsImages

The England 2015 organisers were also able to use the match as part of their testing programme and were delighted with the delivery of the stadium’s first ever rugby match ahead of the Tournament coming to the city in September. Find out more at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-C4javbqh0  

Photo credit: ProSportsImages

Balfour bloggers

Pupils from Balfour Primary Tag Rugby team were invited to Brighton Community Stadium recently to learn about how the venue will be transformed for Rugby in the months ahead.

Seven pupils took a tour of the ground and met with the Executive Director of Brighton & Hove Football Club to find out more.

In this home changing room

The trip was organised by Albion in the Community (AITC) and also involved the pupils working with the AITC team to create blog content on a set of iPads.

Their finished blog entries will be posted here soon.  

In the stands

World class Rugby coming to Brighton & Hove this spring

The first ever Rugby match to be played at the Brighton Community Stadium will be on Friday 20 March 2015. The England U20s take on France U20s in the final in the Under 20s Six Nations ahead of the Seniors match the next day at Twickenham.

Tickets are selling fast as people are eager to be part of this sporting first. Offering an exciting start to the weekend, the match is attracting families and first time Rugby goers as well as long time fans of the sport. The match kicks off time of 7.55pm gives plenty of time to get to the stadium after school or work.

England Rugby 2015 will be using the occasion as an opportunity to test elements of match day delivery and see the football stadium in action as a Rugby venue ahead of RWC 2015 matches taking place in Brighton & Hove later in the year. The U20s will be the first Rugby players to hit the Brighton pitch before two RWC 2015 games taking place on the first weekend of the Tournament on September 19 and 20.

James Chisholm is a key player in the U20s England squad, appearing at No. 8. James is from Haywards Heath and was a pupil at Brighton College. He visited the Brighton Community Stadium on 18 February to have a look around.

James Chisholm (Photo credit Paul Hazlewood)

James said: “I think it’s awesome we are going to come here, it’s a great venue. We want to win and will be giving it our all as always. It’s always a good game when we play France. Hopefully this match will draw people in. If you haven’t seen a live Rugby match before then this would be the one to start with. It’s a friendly atmosphere for spectators and a chance to see top sport at a very easy to get to stadium. I am looking forward to being back in Brighton playing for England on 20 March.” 

James currently plays alongside his brother Ross at Harlequins as well as being part of the England U20s. He previously captained England’s U18s to victory in the FIRA European Tournament and was part of the winning U20s England team in the 2014 IRB Junior World Championship.

Tickets are currently still available for the U20s match and can be bought from the Albion Booking line on 0844 3271901. Adult tickets cost £15 and children aged under 18 are £5. There are discounts for students, families and people aged over 65 years.