Adıyaman, Türkiye — One year after the launch of Pass It Back Recovery, the city’s first-ever rugby club, Adıyaman Rugby Sport Club, is officially registered, marking a historic milestone in the development of rugby in Türkiye. 

Adıyaman, Türkiye — One year after the launch of Pass It Back Recovery, the city’s first-ever rugby club, Adıyaman Rugby Sport Club, is officially registered, marking a historic milestone in the development of rugby in Türkiye. 

Rugby first started in Adıyaman in July, 2023 when 16 Pass It Back Coaches were trained through a partnership between Türkiye Ragbi Federasyonu (TRF) and ChildFund Rugby in tag rugby and life skills coaching. Those Coaches went on to form dozens of teams of 11-16 year old players, more than 50% of them female. Following two seasons of Pass It Back, a school sports competition taking place in Adıyaman in January, 2024 included tag rugby for the first time, with over 250 young people participating. After the competition, two female and one male team qualified for the Regional Finals, and travelled to represent Adıyaman for the first time. 

“All of our club’s Coaches and players have emerged from Pass It Back, which has been invaluable to us,” said Ümmügülsüm MAMİŞ, Adıyaman Rugby Sport Club’s Secretary General. “A year ago, children and young people in Adıyaman were still reeling from the earthquake. Today, more than 500 young people across our community are connected and passionate about rugby, building essential life skills, and many have become community leaders and role models.” 

Pass It Back Recovery kicked off in July 2023 in Adıyaman, Türkiye to support children and young people impacted by earthquakes in February that year. The aim of Pass It Back was to provide psychosocial support and strong peer networks for young people coping with the difficult circumstances. “So many children took to the sport and really fell in love with it. Community members asked us for Coaches to teach their children, and rugby just spread around as a positive light in a difficult time” said Ümmügülsüm MAMİŞ, Adıyaman Rugby Sport Club’s Secretary General.

With such an engaged and passionate player base and a core of dedicated Coaches, forming a club became the logical next step. “Before Pass It Back, rugby had not been played in Adıyaman,” commented Fikret KELEŞ, an Adiyaman Sports Directorate representative. “Young people have fallen for it straight away – it’s a fun and engaging team sport. We want to leverage this opportunity and the foundation Pass It Back has set to grow the game further.”

To date, 32 Coach accreditations have been issued to young people brand new to coaching, all aged 16-25 years old. Pass It Back Coaches delivered 471 integrated rugby and life skills sessions over two seasons, and organised two competitions. Eight hundred and fifty seven player registrations (56% female) were recorded across 48 teams from the two seasons, and data shows that two in three players improved their life skills learning. 

The board of Adıyaman Rugby Sport Club is made up of young people and community members who started rugby through Pass It Back, and has more than 40% female representation. The club is committed to promoting a strong and inclusive rugby community in Adıyaman, and aims to provide pathways and opportunities for players and Coaches to progress as both T1 Rugby and contact players under TRF’s structures.

“It’s inspiring to see how the partnership with ChildFund Rugby has not only supported community recovery after the earthquakes, but also supported the sustainable growth of a safe and inclusive rugby club.” said TRF President Nahit Sahin. “Congratulations to the young leaders of Adıyaman Rugby Sport Club for all they’ve accomplished in one year and we look forward to seeing both Pass It Back and rugby continuing to thrive in Adıyaman and across Türkiye.”

ChildFund Rugby Director, Chris Mastaglio said “Our team has been so proud to work with TRF team. As disaster response moves into disaster recovery, sport can be an incredible platform to provide safe spaces, peer support networks, routine, and access to trusted leaders in time of difficulty. The TRF team’s commitment to playing an active role in community recovery after the earthquakes should be recognised and celebrated as an example of what sport has the potential to do for communities in challenging situations’.

A third season of Pass It Back is currently underway, and a fourth season is scheduled to start later in the year. Adıyaman Rugby Sport Club will be a pivotal partner in taking Pass It Back forward into the future in Adıyaman, and has aspirations to grow into new locations in the region, and across Türkiye.

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For all media enquiries, please contact Linh Truong at linh@childfundrugby.org – video and photos are available upon request.

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ChildFund Rugby partners with National Governing Bodies to use rugby as a powerful tool to create positive social impact, and enable children and young people to play, learn, and lead.

Union partners use Pass It Back, a set of integrated rugby and life skills learning products, to enable children and young people in vulnerable communities to have opportunities to learn critical social and emotional skills, which ensure they are better equipped to overcome challenges, be role models, and inspire positive social change in their communities.

ChildFund Rugby is World Rugby’s global Social Impact Partner, a multi-year partnership that builds on previous partnerships across four consecutive Rugby World Cup events.

Pass It Back Recovery – Türkiye has been generously supported by World Rugby and Beyond Sport, together with W Rugby and DHL, as well as by ChildFund Rugby supporters from across the world.

Pass It Back Recovery – Türkiye is delivered by Türkiye Ragbi Federasyonu (the Turkish Rugby Federation) in partnership with ChildFund Rugby.

Türkiye Ragbi Federasyonu, known as TRF, is the governing body for rugby union in Turkey. TRF also governs American football, baseball and softball activities in Turkey. It is a full member of World Rugby and Rugby Europe. Read more about TRF here.