About us.
Sense Rugby is a Occupational Therapy led rugby program designed to help tamariki and rangatahi who usually find it difficult to be part of a sports team.
Sense Rugby NZ was established in July 2020 as a charitable trust after recognising that tamariki and rangatahi who live everyday life with disabilities and often “invisible” differences in their social, motor, learning, emotional regulation and communication skills have limited access to high quality and consistent active recreation and sport opportunities.
Sense Rugby was originally designed with our neurodiverse community in mind, however due to our OT’s having a great understanding of how to support many young people with diverse needs, we aim to make our programme as accessible as we can.
Our young people who engage in Sense Rugby may be Autistic, Dyspraxic, an ADHDer or may have a Global Developmental Delay, Sensory Processing Disorder, Down Syndrome, Intellectual Disability, Cerebral Palsy, Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, Pathological Demand Avoidance, Anxiety, Vision & Hearing Loss, a Genetic Condition, or a Trauma background (please note this list is not exhaustive).
Sense Rugby has a number of values and principles that ensures we support the young people who join us. We utilise young people’s strengths and motivations to help them to participate. We focus on creating a positive, successful social experience first and foremost. We always have an experienced Paediatric Occupational Therapist present who has both clinical knowledge and hands on experience supporting a diverse range of tamariki and rangatahi. Along with our health led team, the use of visuals, language adaptations, sensory and environment supports, and social emotional coaching, ensures we meet the varied needs of participants to engage successfully.
Some of the goals Sense Rugby supports tamariki, rangatahi and whānau to achieve include:
To have fun!
To develop their confidence and self-esteem
To find a regular activity that can be their own
To learn a new skill that gives them a new sports based community to belong to for life
To find a way to get the movement they seek in a fun and sports based way
To make some new friends and connect with their peers
To enhance their motor skills and build on their endurance
To learn how to follow instructions, wait their turn and be part of a group
To learn how to manage their emotions and improve their ability to self-regulate
…and many more!