Swansea Uplands have hosted a successful player recruitment event for their U10's and U11's with the help of the Ospreys.
A special evening was hosted at the clubs home with a view to attracting new players, which saw members of the Ospreys Community Development team delivering a training session for the youngsters accompanied by Ospreys players Joe Rees, Stefan Watermeyer and Ian Gough.
More than 40 local youngsters attended the evening, which was declared a huge success by the club, and was another sign of the region’s ongoing commitment to help those clubs who’ve signed up to the club support scheme this season as they look to grow the game at all levels in Ospreylia.
The event was run by Tom Sloane, Participation Officer for the Swansea District, who said afterwards:
“The recruitment evening was a huge success, drawing in new players to help boost what is a proactive, community focussed club. Ian, Joe and Stefan really got stuck in and helped deliver a training session that all the kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
“While it was fun for everybody, there was a serious side to the event as it’s important that we continue to grow player numbers in the community game and these recruitment evenings reward that clubs who work with the region, allowing them to attract new players. It’s important that we get youngsters playing rugby to ensure as wide a playing base as possible.”
Swansea Uplands were among the first to sign up to the Ospreys club support scheme after it was launched by the Community Development team at the region at the start of this season with the aim of allowing them to work even closer with local rugby clubs for the good of rugby in the region at all levels.
Registered clubs receive a number of benefits, including special events aimed at developing existing coaches operating with the club, priority access for player appearances to help recruit players and develop the club, access to special Ospreys ticketing promotions and the opportunity to become involved in half-time tag events or the guard of honour, at forthcoming Ospreys matches.
Paul Coode, Junior Secretary at Swansea Uplands RFC, said:
“It was a fantastic couple of hours for the players in attendance new and ?old. Tom and the the Ospreys players ?really went out of their way to get involved and actually coach the? kids, which for the kids is a fantastic experience.”