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Written by Phil Thorpe
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Thursday, 27 July 2006 |
Featured fixtures to receive the big game treatment as Tigers plan to deepen their community involvement
NO-ONE can accuse the powers-that-be at Sedgley Park of not being pro-active in giving the game of rugby a boost in the local area.
The club has a number of season-long initiatives planned, in a bid to get local youngsters playing the game, as well as enticing more people to sample a taste of the Park Lane experience.
Schools, colleges and universities in the locality are all set to benefit from a scheme involving the Tigers, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and the Army, that will see the club sending out coaches and players to oversee training sessions.
They aim to get involved in around 30 local primary schools throughout the borough, introducing fun, small-sided Tag Rugby games, and mini-festivals of the sport that will culminate in a grand final jamboree at the club.
Meanwhile, eight senior schools will also benefit from the initiative.
Players and coaches will go into schools, two at a time, organising coaching and looking to encourage interested youngsters to attend further sessions at Park Lane, both in curriculum time and outside school hours.
”We feel it is a good project and are looking forward to getting the ball rolling,” said Sedgley president Geoff Roberts.
”It will be run in conjunction with our own internal academy. Youngsters will be invited to coaching sessions, which will be based on individual skills and positions on the field.
”After speaking to the Army, they have agreed to give us 1,000 t-shirts with ‘Arm’ on the back and Sedgley Park on the front, that we can give out to youngsters on the courses.
”One idea is to have a £1 admission for under-16s and anyone wearing one of the t-shirts can get in free.
”We also hope some of the schools involved will hold trips to the ground for certain games.”
Sedgley hope to utilise their three new Fijian players, Ledua Jope, Saula Roko and Ratu Naulivou, along with some of their younger players, in the scheme.
All three of the south sea islanders are serving soldiers based at Dale Barracks, Chester.
Despite getting backing from the Army and the RFU, the club has also applied for a Government-sponsored Sportsmatch grant that will match the club’s input pound for pound in the first year, should they be successful.
Further education colleges stand to benefit from coaching sessions too, while teachers and students will be encouraged to take courses and, in turn, coach in the primary schools.
The innovative scheme is just part of a bigger plan to boost the profile of the club in the area, as well as giving more people the chance to enjoy the game of rugby union.
During the upcoming campaign, the Tigers will also be targeting six home fixtures that they aim to make major events with different activities planned before, during and after the games.
”The targeted games idea is something that bigger clubs like Sale Sharks and, in rugby league, Salford Reds have done,” added Roberts.
”We’d like to encourage as many people as possible to get down to these fixtures and will be involving schools, our own junior teams and even former players in team re-union events.
”There is a special committee at the club who are coming up with a lot of good ideas for these targeted games. We just want to look at things a bit differently.”
While early season fixtures will still be preceded by curtain-raiser matches involving the club’s junior teams, schools, college sides, and, whenever possible, the club’s second team, Sedgley don’t plan to put on one of the targeted days until after September.
”There are a lot of possible distractions until September is out of the way,” said Roberts.
”People are still going on holidays, students are not back at University and
we’ll probably look at making the Penzance Pirates game in mid-October our first big event.
”We want to bring everybody at the club together on these days, whether they are involved in the junior section, the senior section, former players or families who want to enjoy a good day out watching rugby union.”
Another idea being mooted is the possibility of a photographic day where a huge club picture could be taken and feature all the players involved at the club.
”Some people in the area don’t know we exist, and are surprised when they see the facilities we have,” added Roberts.
”We want to tap into the local community and show them what a great set-up and good club we have here, and in doing so lift the profile of rugby union in the area.
”It will also give people involved in our youth section a chance to see how the first team set-up works and help improve communication within the club.”
On the playing side the Tigers have been boosted by the acquisition of former London Welsh player, Alex Bennett.
The 31-year-old, backrow, was at training on Friday evening and he will give added strength to coach Tim Fourie’s squad.
Standing 6ft 3in and weighing in at 17st 7lb, Bennett has a quality background in the game having played for the Barbarians against East Midlands while at Orrell.
He has also experience with French side Brive as well as Guinness Premiership side Saracens.
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