Newcastle Thunder

Don’t fix what isn’t broken That was attempted in 2019 and look what happened Newcastle just works

The pitch is marked in for RL with blue lines, the same as London at Ealing

Yes there was a drop in 2020 due to the season not being played but it wasn’t a big drop Here are the registration numbers, this doesn’t include woman and girls numbers 2019 - 1124 2020 - 997 2021 - 1351 Now considering it’s only May and we will be registering new players all the way through to October that 1351 will continue to rise. There are goals to create more new clubs but our main focus is now to build up our current clubs and make them as strong as possible. from an academy pathway point of view this growth is really having a benefit because a few year ago there would only be around 70/80 U15/16’s to pick from each year but now that’s up to 120/130 players so the pool is bigger lots of work to do but it’s going in the right direction

Good news story inbound North East Rugby League Registration Update Participation numbers up 35% on 2020 and up 20% on 2019 The % is based on a clubs current number of registered players compared to the number registered in 2020. 1 - Wallsend Centurions - 294% 2 - Whitley Bay Barbarians - 192% 3 - Catterick Crusaders - 178% 4 - Jarrow Vikings - 175% 5 - Durham Tigers - 129% 6 - Wallsend Eagles - 124% 7 - Hartlepool Hurricanes - 115% 8 - Gateshead Storm - 107% 9 - Cramlington Rockets - 106% 10 - Durham Demons - 106% 11 - Yarm Wolves - 104% 12 - Newcastle Magpies - 85% 13 - Alnwick Bears - 54% North East Total - 135% 2020 - 35% 2019 - 20%

Away fans welcome

That couldn’t be further away from the truth. We actually even run a dual pathway so instead of forcing a kid to choose one code or the other at 16 we allow them to do both! after this point the nature takes its course and the player will naturally gravitate to the sport he enjoys more or is doing better at. we have a pretty good track record of the most talented kids in the area choosing to continue on with rugby league as their focus sport hence why we also currently have 4 on the England academy programme which is of a higher return then half of the super league academy sides

Yep! Remember we have a foundation which goes out and finds funding and sells school packages which pays for the community development officers you don’t need a wealthy club owner to grow the community game

That’s because it’s not the rival code our foundations goals are to grow rugby of both codes, there’s no rivalry up here, both working together to help each other grow. All being well we hope to launch 3 new community clubs in the next 3 years to take our total of community clubs up to 18 and bring another 200 new players into the game with more then 1,500 registered players we are seeing huge interest and demand for new clubs and players wanting to join for this summers community game and as we invest and grow the game we will keep expanding our community department

The development of rugby league in the region will expand significantly in 2021 as the award winning Newcastle Rugby Foundation announce exciting expansion plans to the Newcastle Thunder community department. With the sport in the north east seeing a 40% growth in participation over the past five years, the addition of three new members of staff will see the foundation’s programmes result in more players than ever before participate in the game. Over 1300 players are currently registered at the 15 community rugby league clubs in the region, with growth of school teams, community club’s or variants such as touch, PDRL/LDRL or wheelchair rugby being targeted by the new look community team. There will be a focus on club development in the North of Tyne, South of Tyne and Tees Valley, in order to create new participation opportunities and on school engagement via the Sky Try and Thunder School Connections programmes. In addition to building up the RLWC 2021, which will see five games in the men’s competition held in the north east and the Foundation aim to engage new audiences, there will also be a focus on those who have been involved in the game’s past via a North East Rugby League heritage programme. Alongside, Thunder’s coaching camp programme will be expanded with dates set to be hosted both at Kingston Park and community clubs every school holiday while enhanced pre-match activation at home Championship and cup matches will serve to make big games, bigger. The Foundation on will also be launching new programmes to engage the north east community by using rugby league as a vehicle to improve mental and physical well-being In order to develop and deliver these exciting programmes the Foundation will welcome Steve Beaty as Newcastle Thunder Community Manager, with Danny Gilroy and Joe Eltringham joining as Community Development Officers The trio will join Jason Grant who is currently leading efforts as the CDO in Tees Valley. Over the forthcoming weeks and months further details on each of the Foundation’s programmes will be confirmed along with introductions to the members of the team and information on how to become involved. Chair of Newcastle Rugby Foundation Mick Hogan said: “This is a really exciting development for rugby league in the north east, particularly with the Rugby League World Cup kicking off in Newcastle this October. “We are building on the success of our development programme and the creation of new clubs like Newcastle Magpies and Wallsend Centurions is a real positive, particularly in the areas where there traditionally hasn’t been rugby league activity. “The diversity of our rugby league offer will emphasise that it is a sport for everyone from pre-school tots to over 35s masters, women and girls, touch rugby and the various forms of disability rugby league. “Accessibility and inclusivity will remain at the heart of everything we do. The Foundation, along with our partners, are driving up the numbers of young people playing the game in schools. It is important we transition these new players into clubs all across the region which will ultimately result in a stronger Newcastle Thunder.” Jan Robinson – Chair of NERL said: “2020 was a difficult year for everyone and as we return to a ‘new normal’ in 2021 we have much to look forward to in the north east, not only in terms of a playing season, but also our local team in the Championship, and the Rugby League World Cup with significant games in our area. “It is very pleasing to see that the Foundation will be there to support and develop Rugby League in the North East as we aim to ‘Build Back Better’.” To get in touch for more information on the Newcastle Thunder Community please contact steve.beaty@newcastle-thunder.co.uk https://www.thunderrugby.co.uk/general/foundation-expands-rugby-league-activities/

Yeah we have a very close relationship with Scotland RL, we have hosted U16 development days for the scotland academy side in the past and will continue to work closely with Scotland RL We can’t wait to host them this year

Thanks for all the kind words of support from people Next season we will look to do the championship justice and continue to grow the sport across the region whilst developing our young academy players We look forward to giving a warm geordie welcome to all of fans of the champ clubs, as well as bringing more of our Thunder Army to your grounds

Thunder 2019 Attendances Doncaster - 1,817 West Wales - 679 Oldham - 889 Keighley - 1,423 Hunslet - 624 Whitehaven - 1,079 Workington - 1,077 London - 1,098 Coventry - 711 North Wales Crusaders - 883 average- 1028

Newcastle Thunder can confirm an application to join the Betfred Championship for the 2021 season has been submitted #ThunderFamily #RugbyLeague

Yeah so we operate competitions within our region, but we are slightly different to anywhere else, we took the decision to move away from overly competitive structured leagues for below U16 in favour for a more development ethos approach. having flexibility for match length and squad sizes meaning no kid should ever find themselves not selected We also encourage every kid to play at least half a game, all of the local clubs and coaches buying into this ethos We still run a cup competition. shedualed into the playing structure is a monthly development day which no fixtures will be played and every player comes to Kingston park to have a day training with our coaches. And this is also where we play our SPARC festivals. We run the following Primary Rules U8, U10, U11 Junior U12, U13, U14 U16 - League Men’s - League

No the new club in Hartlepool would an additional new club the demand is huge so that area can service two strong community clubs