Newcastle Thunder

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’

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 fixture

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

Newcastle Thunder will play an integral part in the continued growth of rugby league at community level as 2021 and the Rugby League World Cup approaches. With the tournament kicking off at St James’ Park on 23 October, three further matches at their Kingston Park Stadium home and a game at Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium next year promises to be the biggest ever at all levels for the sport in the north east. Working in partnership with the club’s official charity and community delivery arm – the Newcastle Rugby Foundation – Thunder will play a prominent role in the new North East

We don’t think so, we have the north east covered fine with development plans in place. York are doing a great job developing that area but nothing wrong with working together to share ideas and best practices It’s great to see the game expanding

Big plans We now have 4 full time Community Development Officers, one of them will be looking after TeesValley We already have a two strong clubs in Yarm Wolves and Hartlepool Hurricanes but will be adding a further 3 clubs in the next two years. we have a story about our community growth coming out today. the North East is the new heartland

With the 2020 season at all levels of the game now long cancelled Newcastle Thunder have taken the opportunity to reflect on progress made so far with their Academy Programme. As well as looking at achievements made to date, the internal review will look at possible improvements that can be implemented and ensure that the drivers and behaviours instilled are in line with the club’s 2030 Super League Mission. Starting out seven years ago under the guidance of Andy Kelly and Chris Chapman the RFL North East Regional Academy programme has now accounted for over 150 competitive first te

An incredible reach on today’s social media post, unbelievably this tweet has now been viewed by over 700,000 people!

You don’t need to worry about that Gav! We have development officers covering this area we successfully supported the creation on Yarm Wolves, and have further plans for another 3 community clubs in the TeesValley area. keep up the good work in York though