— The Champions03 Foundation
The Champions03 Foundation exists to ensure no professional rugby player has to face life after the game alone.
Created by members of England's 2003 Rugby World Cup-winning squad, the Foundation uses the legacy of one extraordinary team to help support the generations of players that follow.
A professional rugby career is intense, all-consuming and relatively short. And whether retirement is planned or arrives unexpectedly, leaving the game can mean much more than changing jobs.
Players can find themselves navigating changes in identity, purpose, routine, relationships, wellbeing and financial circumstances, often while trying to work out what comes next.
Success on the pitch doesn't make anyone immune from those challenges.
The Champions03 Foundation exists to turn awareness into action, helping professional rugby players build the confidence, capability, connections and opportunities they need for life beyond the game.
Champions03 brings together the legacy, profile and people of England's 2003 Rugby World Cup-winning team through events, partnerships, appearances, merchandise and storytelling.
That activity creates commercial value, awareness, connections and funding.
A significant part of that support flows through the Champions03 Foundation, funding practical programmes designed around the realities of transition from professional rugby.
Those programmes are delivered with specialist partners, beginning with Switch the Play.
— Charity
The Champions03 Foundation works with Switch the Play, the UK charity dedicated to supporting sportspeople as they transition into life beyond sport.
Their specialist experience in mentoring, personal development, wellbeing, education and career transition helps ensure the funding generated through
Champions03 becomes credible, practical support for players.
Together, we're helping players prepare not simply for the end of one career, but for the beginning of what comes next
The Foundation is already putting its purpose into action through two core programmes.
A nine-month development programme helping professional rugby players prepare for life beyond the game through personalised mentoring, group learning, career exploration, wellbeing support and an ongoing community.
Helping former professional rugby players overcome the financial barriers to education, training and professional qualifications, with tailored support and grants of up to £10,000.
The story began with one team. Its purpose is about the generations that follow.
As Champions03 grows, so does our ambition for the Foundation: to reach more players, create more opportunities and build a stronger network of support around those navigating life beyond professional rugby.
Because the legacy of 2003 should be more than something we celebrate.
It can be something we put to work.