Tackle the Mindset began in 2024 as a bold idea: to use rugby not just as a sport, but as a structured intervention to tackle behaviour, attendance, and aspiration challenges in the school where I worked.

At the start of the academic year, I launched a Year 10 rugby team, something unheard of in a school with no rugby tradition and a richly diverse student population. To everyone’s surprise, after being told i wouldn't be able to get students to play, 22 students signed up. They weren’t just the high achievers or the usual sports participants; they were students who struggled with attendance, behaviour, and confidence. Many had never played rugby before.

I trained them in my own time, after school hours. They kept coming back. I built strong relationships with the players and their families, earning their trust and commitment. Through consistent coaching, mentoring, and belief, I saw a shift not just on the pitch but in the classroom. Behaviour improved. Attendance rose. Some of the most challenged students turned things around in Year 11, and several expressed a desire to keep playing after school.

I referred them to a local community club, hoping to extend their rugby journey and with it, their sense of belonging, discipline, and ambition.

That experience proved what I believed all along: rugby can be a powerful tool for change. Tackle the Mindset was born from that moment, not just as a coaching programme, but as a movement to help young people believe in who they can become.

 

Founded by former Head of Year and RFL Level 2 coach Kyle Lund.  I found another school willing to run my programme and i launched it with a single pilot in another Bradford secondary school, on a Friday afternoon in January 2025, when i offered my services for free to help the students. The results were immediate; students who had struggled with regulation and engagement began showing up, stepping up, and reflecting on their actions through the lens of rugby values. coming along each week, but only if they were good and attended school, they did just that, they behaved and attended just to come along to the after-school club on a Friday afternoon.

From there, the journey accelerated:

• JAN- 2025
• First 6-week intervention delivered; logo and brand launched
• MAY- 2025
• Expanded into primary schools across Leeds and Bradford
• Developed partnerships with local clubs to support player pathways
• Created a full impact framework and began tracking outcomes across attendance, behaviour, and confidence
• Delivered showcase sessions for SLTs, councils, and foundations
• JUNE- 2025

• Tackle the Mindset – Now Expanding!

  We’re now seeking new schools and student groups across West Yorkshire to join our values-led rugby coaching programme.

  If your school is looking to:

  • Improve behaviour, attendance, and aspiration
  • Support SEMH, SEND, or disengaged learners
  • Embed discipline, respect, and ambition through sport
  • Build pathways into community clubs and leadership

  Then Tackle the Mindset can help.

  We offer:

  • 6–12 week interventions
  • Curriculum PE and after-school clubs
  • Staff CPD and impact tracking
  • Club partnerships and recruitment campaigns

  Now booking for Autumn 2025
  Let’s work together to create confident, resilient young people on and off the pitch

Today, Tackle the Mindset is more than a coaching programme; it’s a movement. Rooted in discipline, respect, and ambition, we’re helping young people rewrite their stories, one session at a time.