HITZ at home - Exeter Chiefs

By Mark Stevens
7/4/20

Back in October Exeter Chiefs were celebrating winning three out of four prizes at the 2019 HITZ Awards – but fast forward to the present day and things are less straight forward.

However, up and down the country Premiership Rugby and its clubs are continuing to use rugby’s core values to help young people not in education, training or employment (NEET) to gain new skills and qualifications, and progress into employment or further education – and the award-winning Chiefs are no different.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, schools and colleges up and down the country have closed, while the lockdown has also meant that clubs have been forced to think outside the box when it comes to delivery HITZ – Premiership Rugby’s award-winning education and employability programme.

Stopping the programme – which is funded by Land Rover and Wooden Spoon – wasn’t an option with more than 2,000 young people across England every year engaging.

So with the support of official education provider SCL, Premiership Rugby clubs have set learners up on an online learning platform which provides Maths and English lessons, ongoing support with qualifications from tutors and the opportunity to participate in other activities that will contribute to their future. In addition, HITZ Officers at each club have planned a programme of virtual enrichment activities.

And if the testimonials from Exeter are anything to go by, the continued support HITZ offers is proving more vital than ever.

Cameron

“I’m finding the remote working really helpful because I can have one-to-ones with my tutors.

“I feel it is important for me to continue with my qualification because it gets me doing something while being isolated.

“It has helped me stay connected with my HITZ friends because we can all help each other with questions we don’t know and we can all keep each other company while being isolated.”

Josh

“Remote working is going well. It's taken a little time to adapt to it but it's nice because you’re in your own space and comfort.

“It’s massive. Our video calls make my day and keep me positive through this hard time.”

Kieran

“The remote working isn’t ideal but at least being able to complete work is keeping my spelling and grammar up to date and making me want to do something every day.

“It is important because with these qualifications I will be able to go further in life and its valuable information that I will need.

“It has helped to stay in contact with people because HITZ is a massive part of my life and it has changed the way I think and the people there are amazing. They make you smile and laugh every day, and still being able to still be in contact with people is very beneficial.”

Callum

“Remote working due to the outbreak of Coronavirus has been very different to anything I've done before. This is a very welcome change as it keeps us in a routine whilst we are stuck at home inside.

“I believe it is very important to continue qualifications at this time, as it keeps students engaged and doesn't allow time to forget any important knowledge that they have learnt whether that be in sport or employability.

“Video calling whilst in remote working is a great way to stay in contact with tutors, but also gives you the opportunity to talk to your friends verbally, whether that be 15 or 30 minutes. The verbal communication is very important to mental wellbeing.”

Kerry

“I love the online lessons because it keeps me productive and motivates me to get my work done, it’s very important to me to get it done and this is the best way to do it. I also love that I stay in touch with everyone and do some sort of socialising.”