Zahira College Added As Leicester Tigers Global Partner Club

English Premiership rugby club Leicester Tigers have announced that Sri-Lankan Zahira College is the latest addition to their Global Partners network.

Leicester Rugby – Global Partners

Leicester said online that the “Global Partner Club programme was created to help to drive the development of rugby across the world while building sustainable links between players, partners and communities.”

The club previously has added KL Tigers (Malaysia), BK Lions (Thailand) and Delhi Hurricanes (India) from the region. Also, it has Dendermonde (Belgium), Colorno (Italy), and RC Diok (Holland) as partners.

Feature Photo – Present from Zahira College were: Saabir Cader – Centenary Year Director Zahira College, Jamal Riad – Zahira Collage Former Captain and Old Boys Associate, Aufer Johar – Chairman of Zahira Rugby and Rilwan Fareed – Zahira College Old Boys Association UK President.

Zahira College – Rugby Development

Zahira College is planning for its Centenary Rugby Year, and as part of the announcements, they said are committed to growing the game throughout Asia.

Tigers will work with Zahira College to deliver Rugby Camps and coaching in Sri Lanka, but also “open up pathways for players and coaches from Sri Lanka in Leicester, the United Kingdom and across the Tigers’ Global Partner Club network.”

This includes establishing Continuing Professional Development (CPD) through the Leicester Tigers High-Performance, said Zahira.

Zahira College Centenary Rugby Director Saabir Cader recently signed the agreement at Leicester Tigers in the UK, which was also made possible by Tom Varndell, the former Leicester and England player, and Scott Clarke, Head of Global Partnership.

Cader is a former captain of the Zahira College Rugby 7s team and has previously worked as a commercial and media consultant for Asia Rugby, but currently is the Sports Development Officer at Birmingham City University (UK).

He told Sri Lanka Daily FT, “We aspire to witness transformative changes in the Sri Lankan Rugby system that will not only benefit Zahira College but also contribute to the advancement of Sri Lanka as a whole. The primary objective of this historic partnership is to establish a pathway for our school players to compete overseas in various tiers, post their A/Ls, and foster high-performance sports and competitive environments.

Given the undeniable excellence of our school rugby, it holds immense potential for the next level. As a result, the experience gained by our players in playing overseas for a few years will significantly contribute to the progress of the Sri Lanka national team in Asia and potentially qualify for the Olympic 7s in 2028.

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