Over 1,200 young rugby players have enjoyed special training sessions at their clubs over the last three months, after the Ospreys in the Community team went out on the road.
Since the latest run of Club Nights started at Penlan RFC inAugust, more than 1,200 players from U7s to U16s teams at 10 different Ospreylian sides have had the opportunity to learn new skills from the OitC coaches while also having plenty of fun playing games with some Ospreys players.
As well as the events being lots fun for the participants, and a chance for teams to reward and motivate their young players, excitingly they’ve also been used by clubs to aid player recruitment with great success. Over 60 new players have taken up rugby and joined the clubs since coming along to one of the evenings.
Tom Sloane, OitC Community Co-ordinator, commented on the success of the run:
“It’s been a very busy few months for the team on this, our latest run of OitC Club Nights, but it’s fantastic and so rewarding to see they’ve been such a success.
“We’ve had such a great reception from all the teams and I’d like to thank them all for having us and making the events such good fun. Come rain, like at Gorseinon RFC(!), or shine, the turnout at all 10 evenings has been incredible and it’s great to see the junior sections of the clubs flourishing.
“Grassroots rugby is so incredibly important to Wales so a particular positive for us as a team is seeing the amount of boys and girls that have taken up the sport and joined a team as a direct result of the Club Nights. 60 new rugby players is a massive amount and there have been particular successes at Cwmgors RFC where 15 new players have joined, and also at Penclawdd RFC where an extra 13 players are now on the books, 10 of which are from the U7s section!
“Thanks also go to the Ospreys for their support with these events. The players have given up their evenings to come along and help out, joining in the coaching and the games with the children as well as signing autographs and having photos and we’re really grateful for their time and effort.”
The Club Nights will now take a break for the winter period, but will be back in 2018 visiting even more clubs around the region.