Our rugby academy programme creates a route into the professional game for male and female players from the UK and abroad.
This comprehensive full-time rugby scholarship programme offered by Ealing Trailfinders Rugby Club in partnership with Brunel University London, is run by over 20 full-time staff, ranging from rugby coaches to psychologists. Between the combination of expert coaching, a quality education, financial assistance and the commitment of bringing the core of the Ealing Trailfinders men and women senior squads through the academy, you’ll find this scholarship programme has everything you need to develop as a rugby player. In order to ensure consistency the majority of the management of the programme also work full-time at Ealing Trailfinders first team, allowing a seamless crossover. Being able to train as a professional and combine it with your university studies in a supportive environment will help you to progress your career on and off the pitch.
Since the start of the Trailfinders Rugby Academy men's programme in 2019, dozens of our scholarship students have achieved professional success alongside their university studies. Our scholars work extremely hard day-to-day to develop physically and technically and put themselves in the best place possible to achieve their goals. This hard work has allowed players to be capped by the seniors in the Championship as well as internationally with Wales Under 20s, Scotland Under 20s and Hong Kong. Tom Georgiou, Lefty Zigiriadis, Elliot Chilvers, Cam Terry and Harry Dugmore are among those who have progressed to professional contracts through the academy pathway. Seventeen players have been selected and played for the Ealing Trailfinders professional team.
In 2021, Ealing Trailfinders outlined ambitions to become a world-class hub for female rugby players, which now falls under the Trailfinders Trojans’ name. Starting from the ground up, our Trailfinders Trojans Academy women's programme feeds into the Ealing Trailfinders Women's team in Premiership Women's Rugby.