Now in its 4th year, Goodbody sponsors the 'Goodbody Rugby Players Ireland Personal Development Bursary', which provides educational bursaries to a selection of players annually to aid their development and progress their off-field careers and academic studies. The road to professional rugby begins at a young age and Goodbody recognises that it can be incredibly difficult to juggle demanding training schedules alongside academic studies or career training. Similarly, moving on from professional rugby to a new potential career can be daunting. Through this partnership, the company wants to directly support players who are going through these transitions and help them on the journey to their post-rugby careers.
At Goodbody, we want the community initiatives and partners we choose to closely mirror our values of expertise, partnership and integrity as a constant reminder of what we stand for as an organisation. Rather than financial-only sponsorships, most of our community initiatives have an education theme to match those core values and involve and require high levels of employee engagement including mentoring and professional volunteering. This partnership is no different. By aiding the development and progression of players’ off-field careers and academic studies and working with Rugby Players Ireland to provide career, business development, retirement transition and financial guidance to their members, we hope this kind of educational support can have a major impact over the long term. Many of our staff have interacted and collaborated with players and player development managers along the way and fostered strong relationships. This has been especially true since the onset of Covid in what has been a really challenging time for the game and for players.
Rugby Players Ireland, as the representative body for Ireland's professional rugby players, consistently strives to make Ireland the best place in the world to play rugby. Rugby Players Ireland is working towards achieving this vision by ensuring that player welfare is always prioritized and that there are fair and equitable terms and conditions for players. The association also adopts a 'whole of life' approach to player development and ensures that the profile enjoyed by Ireland's rugby players contributes to the future development not just of Irish rugby but Irish society as a whole.
