Caleb Montgomery may only be at the start of his Warriors’ career but the back-row forward is already planning for life after rugby.
Montgomery has signed up for an electrical installation course at the Heart of Worcestershire College’s Worcester campus and has already started his training.
For the next two years Montgomery, a summer recruit for Warriors from Ulster, will spend two nights a week learning theory at the college and he will also gain practical experience on his days off from rugby.
Montgomery follows in the footsteps of former Warriors flanker Carl Kirwan, who qualified as an electrician from the same course at Heart of Worcestershire College before he left Sixways over the summer.
Kirwan is now playing part-time for National One club Chinnor while using his new vocational skills, encouraged by Warriors’ Education Officer Lynette Cutting, as a site manager with house builders, Rectory Homes in Buckinghamshire.
“At the end of the course hopefully I will be a qualified electrician which is something I can do after rugby,” Montgomery said.
“It’s something that I’ve wanted to do and when I came here Lynette spoke to me about vocational training and was very quick to get me onto the course at the college.
“Lynette is very good at what she does. We didn’t have someone like Lynette at Ulster. She is very on the ball and we already had a link with the college as Carl Kirwan did a similar course last year and Andy Chapman, Engineering Lecturer at Heart of Worcestershire College, is a season ticket holder.
“They want to make the link stronger and get more of the boys on courses there.”
Other Warriors players to have gained vocational qualifications at Heart of Worcestershire College are tighthead prop Nick Schonert, wing and Perry Humphreys and lock Darren Barry – now with Greene King IPA Championship club Newcastle Falcons – who qualified as plumbers last year.
Stuart Laverick, Principal and CEO at Heart of Worcestershire College, said: “We’re once again thrilled to be working with Worcester Warriors to enhance the players’ education and help them prepare for life after rugby.
“HoW College prides itself on providing a wealth of vocational options, in a variety of sectors, to give students first-hand practical skills and knowledge to take into the workplace. We wish Caleb the best of luck with his studies and Warriors the best of luck with the season.”