Ystradgynlais RFC enjoys an 'Ospreys day'

The Ospreys hosted a special day of activities for Ystradgynlais RFC this week.

The day started with Ospreys/WRU Participation Officer, Lisa Jones, running a successful Primary School Tag Festival at Maesydderwen Comprehensive, which saw Ystradgynlais RFC’s local feeder primary schools participating.

The event attracted 11 teams with over 100 local children taking part in the activities in a fun, safe and enjoyable environment.

Neath Port Talbot Development Officer Andrew Thomas and several Ospreys community coaches supported the day and handed out Ospreys programmes, squad photos and Ospreys masks to each participant.

The children were then encouraged to join the team at the rugby club later in the evening to take part in a successful question and answer session with Ystradgynlais Minis.

Ospreys stars Ian Gough and James King came along to answer the enthusiastic youngsters questions about various aspects of the game as well as posing for photos and signing their autographs on the Ospreys Squad Poster for 2011/12 that was handed out to each child.

The day long of special activities concluded with Ospreys Coach Development Officer Tony Thomas running a workshop open all the clubs coaches, focused on utilising games for understanding in a training session.

The coaches were creative in their responses and worked well together as a team. An activity then provided the coaches with an opportunity to design their own game that could be utilised within a training session.

Ystradgynlais RFC representative Adrian Lock said

"The day provided the club with the opportunity to reach youngsters who are not currently involved within rugby and rewarded those who have been with the club for many years."

The day also allowed the Ospreys to test the effectiveness of a joined up approach within the thriving local rugby community. This strategy allowed for unison of all the local stakeholders within the game and created a day to remember for the children and coaches of Ystradgynlais RFC.

The final stage in the process will take place on Sunday 29th January at Ystradgynlais RFC from 10:30am to 2:30pm, where the WRU and the Ospreys have come together to market the 'Join the Beat' initiative. The event encourages ALL members of the community to come together and be a part of their local rugby club, whether they are players, coaches, referees or volunteers to help support rugby in their community.

There are several other 'Join the Beat' events taking place in Neath Port Talbot on Sunday morning including events at Bryncoch RFC, Skewen RFC, Tonna RFC and Neath Athletic RFC. So if you live in any of these local communities and want to make a difference then go along to your local rugby club on Sunday morning.

If you have any questions about these events or rugby within Neath Port Talbot then call your local Development Officer Andrew Thomas on 07814 781 015 or email Andrew.Thomas@OspreysRugby.com.

The game seminar for coaches will be repeated at Glynneath RFC at 6.30 on Wednesday February and again at South Gower RFC at 7 p.m. on Wednesday February. This seminar is relevant to all coaches from Junior to First xv level and all local coaches are welcome to attend. Any coach requiring further details should contact Ospreys Coach Development Officer, Tony Thomas at tthomas@wru.co.uk