Tigers can announce its latest global partner club as Dendermonde Rugby Club who play their rugby in in the Belgian Elite League.
As part of the Tigers Global Partnership Plan to help shape global grassroots rugby and build the Tigers brand around the world, Dendermonde will now play an active role in driving the game’s development.
Founded in 1962, Dendermonde are the current Belgian champions and won league-and-cup doubles in 2011/12 and 2015/2016. Playing in green and yellow, the club is the only team from the Flanders region to play in the top flight.
Boasting men’s and women’s squads, a veterans’ team and youth squads from under-six to under-18, Dendermonde has become one of Belgian rugby’s most dominant outfits.
Leicester Tigers’ global partner clubs include Kuala Lumpur Tigers in Malaysia, where the club have had links since 2013, hosting regular Tigers Rugby Camps, supporting grass roots rugby and developing commercial opportunities. KL Tigers now have 23 teams for boys and girls, and Tigers hope that this new venture with Dendermonde will follow in its footsteps.
Scott Clarke, Head of Community and Global Partnerships at Leicester Tigers, said: “We’re very proud of this announcement with Dendermonde because we’ve been working with them since 2015 and to see the two clubs come formally is hugely exciting.
“Dendermonde Rugby Club possess many of the values we look for in when seeking to build our global partnership plan and attach our affiliation with clubs around the world. It’s a club that has youth development, family and success at its core and last month we hosted another of our Tigers Rugby Camp for its young players and junior coaches to learn from our team at first hand.
“At Tigers, we’re committed to driving forward grass roots development, talent identification and supporting commercial opportunities on a global scale and Dendermonde is a fantastic place to build our European presence further.”
Alain Buyens, President at Dendermonde RC, added: “It is a huge step forward for Dendermonde Rugby Club to team up with Leicester Tigers to build the next phase of the club’s development.
“We have made great progress in the last few years on and off the pitch and partnering with a club with the history and values of Tigers will prove to be a major plus for all things rugby within our community and region.”
Dendermonde RC play their matches at the new Sport Complex Sint-Gilles and as a global partner club will benefit from an association with Leicester Tigers that will aim to support activity on and off the pitch, both in a commercial environment and rugby development.
Leicester Tigers have been busy this 2017 supporting rugby around the world including in Japan, Belgium, Italy, USA, Spain, India and Argentina as well as across the UK.
For anyone interested in finding out more about our Global Partnership Plan and working with Tigers around the world, please contact Scott Clarke at 0116 217 1283 or email [email protected]
