A fifteen strong Board will be formed based on video applications submitted primarily via youtube and hold its first meeting early in the New Year.
Applicants are asked to analyse and consider the issues which lead to some youngsters drifting away from the sport between the ages of 16 and 21 and submit a 2-minute video summarising their thoughts by 25th November.
In order to gain access to the new Boardroom entrants must be aged between 16 and 21-years old and be able to travel to Wales for board meetings, with further details available at www.wru.wales/youthboard
The Board should represent a broad spectrum of society and will be chaired by the Group CEO and is the first new initiative to be announced by Phillips since officially taking up his new role this week.
“The opinions of this group will be available to the decision makers within the governing body,” said Phillips.
“It is important for any business that young people are heard, especially on matters which are at the core of their experiences, like the drift away from the game by players in their late teens.
“The Rugby World Cup has enthused a huge new following for the game and we have a duty to keep as many of those fans as possible engaged in the sport.
“We must find ways of attracting more of these youngsters to be the players, coaches, volunteers and administrators for now and the future.
“I am forming the new WRU Youth Board because I genuinely believe that if we find the right young people the business will benefit from their insight and analysis on this and other issues.
”The WRU is achieving huge success in attracting the very young into the game, but in order to remain the national sport of Wales we have to keep more people, both male and female, engaged with rugby through long careers both on and off the pitch.”
The Board will have a remit to take evidence from players, coaches, volunteers and administrators within the game as well as from people who are not currently engaged in rugby, as its first project.
The fifteen people selected for the Youth Board will gather around four times a year with the inaugural meeting held at the Principality Stadium in January.
Sport Wales CEO, Sarah Powell said:
“As sporting organisations it is vitally important for us to listen to the views of the people who play and contribute to sport in Wales. We have to be representative of our communities if we want to truly engage everyone in sport.
“This is an excellent initiative that fits with the work of sport in Wales to listen to young people, including canvassing the views of 116,000 people through the School Sport Survey and the Young Ambassador programme to train our next generation of leaders.
“Rugby is part of the culture in Wales and young people will want to contribute to help continue to grow the game.”
Wales Women’s captain and WRU rugby co-ordinator, Rachel Taylor, said: “I believe the WRU initiative to create a Youth Board is a massive positive step forward to understanding the problems in the game and retention within it. The lives of young people change at a quicker pace now, accessing their current knowledge and thoughts of the game will be key.
“Using different forms of technology is key also – the way in which we communicate is changing rapidly and it’s important we keep up with this.”
Wales Captain, Sam Warburton, said; “I think this is an excellent opportunity for the voice of the youth of Wales to be heard loud and clear within rugby.
“Of course we need more youngsters to keep playing the game through their late teenage years and beyond but rugby also has a whole lot more to offer.”
The successful applicants will be expected to be involved for at least two years and will have access to a range of benefits, experience and opportunities throughout the WRU Group to add to their employment CV’s for the future.
As well as the issue of youngsters leaving the game the Board will have a wide agenda for consideration and will receive expert advice from within Welsh rugby including international Dual Contract players, international coaches and backroom staff.
A shortlist of candidates will be selected for an assessment day in early December.
