John Barbosa picked up his first rugby ball at Winstanley High School and the 13-year-old took to the sport like a duck to water, eventually joining the after-school rugby club to further develop his skills and understanding of the game.
Now a member of Leicester Forest Rugby Club and a student at Leicester Forest East, Barbosa has only gone from strength to strength, with Project Rugby sessions facilitated by Leicester Tigers ensuring the Year 8 student has all he needs to pursue a sport now close to his heart.
"Originally I started in Year 7 and it was through PE," he said. "I found rugby interesting, so I decided to join the after school club which was led by Mr [Kevin] Higgins and after that we did a couple of tournaments and, after one of the more recent ones, I was invited to go join Leicester Forest East.
"Rugby is really fun. My friends play too, and I get to talk to them a lot more often now. If you don't have a sport where you can talk to people, you don't get out as often as you could.
"My favourite part of Project Rugby was playing with other schools because we get to see how well others do too.
"Before Project Rugby, I wasn't that sporty. I'm in much better shape than before and it has helped me build my confidence.
"If I could, I'd keep doing it after school. I might take it up as a profession. I feel like I'm improving every time I play. I'm getting better and better and it makes me happy.
"If you enjoy rugby and you want to talk to other people who feel the same as you, then you should join. If you don't, you're missing out."
Delivered in partnership with Gallagher, Project Rugby engages participants from traditionally underrepresented groups and facilitates sessions that are easily accessible.
The training sessions are delivered in local communities by coaches and volunteers from Premiership Rugby clubs and Club Foundations across the nation.
Project Rugby has seen over 100,000 people take part in its various activities since 2017 and staff from Leicester Forest East have hailed the programme for how it has used sport to change the lives of the young people for the better.
Georgia Leigh, Managing Director of Gallagher's Leicester office said: "It is brilliant to see what a positive impact Project Rugby has made on John's life. The initiative has so much to offer young people, from all backgrounds, and John has clearly gained a lot of confidence and a passion for the sport.
"Project Rugby aims to make rugby more accessible to young people so that rugby can become more inclusive as a result. We're really proud to be delivering this great initiative in partnership with Premiership Rugby and hopefully John's story will inspire more young people to get involved."
Programme deliverer Ben Duke said: "Seeing the way John walks and talks around other people, he seems a lot more confident, especially when he's on the pitch.
"The first few days after school he was a bit timid, didn't know me too well but after that he has seemed a lot more confident in himself and in what he's saying.
"He's a good leader in the field and in terms of his ability, tackling-wise, he's a good shoulder-charger to begin with and he's done a good job of improving himself. I'm really impressed with him.
"It's really important to give opportunities to kids who haven't seen sports like rugby and there's so much untapped potential within the sport itself.
"We want to give people the opportunity to play a sport they've not seen before and hopefully enjoy. The way Project Rugby helps that is to show community schools what rugby is like and what a great sport it is for everyone."
