What is the Rugby Reading Game?

This February and March I am going to be working in schools across England, Wales and Scotland playing my Rugby Reading Game.

And in April I'll be doing the same in New Zealand, when I am out there touring rugby-loving schools.

The plan for this spring is to tie in with the RBS Six Nations tournament, which begins on 1st February and goes on into March. If children are into rugby union, this is a great time to use that sport passion to encourage them to read for pleasure. Because of the hype around the tournament and because there will be lots about to read about the game.

The nuts and bolts of the Rugby Reading Game are explained here on my website. In brief, it is a quiz. About things you can read on rugby. Children who get questions right take a penalty at my eight-foot indoor rugby posts. The winner gets a trophy.

The idea is to showcase all the newspaper, magazine, website and book coverage of the tournament using a quiz format. And using competitive spirit. It is up-to-date and includes lots of questions non rugby fans can have a go at.

But there is more to the Rugby Reading Game than that. What happens is children - often children who do not enthuse about reading - tell me and their peers what they like reading. Rugby and non-rugby material. Somehow the game opens more people up to say 'I am a reader.'

I love to see children defining themselves as readers. Accepting that they might not read classic books, but that reading Jonny Wilkinson's rugby coaching book or Rugby World magazine count.

The librarian at Llandovery College said: 'Our pupils loved meeting Tom. His enthusiasm for reading (and sport) was really infectious and drew them in from the moment he arrived. The Rugby Reading Game was a great hit with both boys and girls and the chance of taking a drop kick was fiercely competed.’

If you'd like me to come to your school or library and run some Rugby Reading Games, please let me know. I have dates available to tie in with this autumn's QBE internationals and the 2015 Six Nations and World Cup. You can email me at info@tompalmer.co.uk for more information.