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Newcastle Thunder Community Department set for expansion


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32 minutes ago, GUBRATS said:

I assume you mean me Damien ? 

But I have congratulated them 

And indeed , the usual suspects also find it hard to congratulate without comparing to other clubs as well , which I've just suggested above isn't really fair 

After half a dozen posts you did, even then it was amongst the excuses and thinly veiled jibes.

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3 hours ago, Cumbrian Mackem said:

If only the fantastic work done by the Newcastle thunder in the north east region could be replicated for in areas like the East Midlands with the Nottingham outlaws and West Midlands with the Coventry bears.

There was a Midlands academy but the RFL closed it down,another backward step.

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5 minutes ago, Damien said:

After half a dozen posts you did, even then it was amongst the excuses and thinly veiled jibes.

My second and third posts 

No jibes , I don't do jibes , you need to reread my posts if that's what you saw 

No excuses , just simple facts , why can't clubs in Coventry or south Wales do similar ? , Mostly money 

Why aren't clubs in the heartlands doing similar ? , They do their best with the money they have , and within the other constraints of other bigger clubs nearby with bigger budgets and profiles who get in first 

As I put , well done and thank you to the owner for his enthusiasm and investment 

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3 hours ago, GUBRATS said:

So if Newcastle didn't have any money, would they be employing CO's setting up clubs and school tournaments ? 

Who would be doing it ? 

Newcastle, formerly Gateshead have been growing to where they are now, for 30 odd years, what we are seeing now is the latest round of exponential growth.

They started experimentally (believing they could find people who would enjoy the game) making many trial and error efforts until they discovered what works (that's marketing, by the way) and they honed their approach based on the feedback. They've been pushing it and polishing their act for 30 odd years. 

The magic of exponential growth is that the greatest gains come at the end of the era where all the efforts of the previous 30 years begin to generate a big, apparently disproportionate demand for the game (spontaneously) which never existed before. You can't get to where they are overnight, so you've got start with what you can afford, and keep building.

My point is that anyone can start where they (Newcastle) started and follow their path, if the will exists.

What's missing, the (RL) world over is the will to get stuck in and do it.

I'm just saying with a sensible ''how to'' guide, the already established league administrations could make progress where otherwise, they might make too many mistakes and waste too much time, to succeed and eventually run out of steam.

Why try to re-invent the wheel? When its been done by someone else (in our gang). 

The trouble with your attitude Gubby is that you think nothing constructive can be done without a billionaire sugar daddy, which is just an excuse to do nothing.

How do you think the game is growing in Canada, USA, Jamaica, Uruguay, Brazil, ....the Balkans..... Africa......  the Pacific....... Well let me tell you, its not because they waited to find a fu.....g billionaire. 

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6 minutes ago, fighting irish said:

Newcastle, formerly Gateshead have been growing to where they are now, for 30 odd years, what we are seeing now is the latest round of exponential growth.

The started experimentally (believing they could find people who would enjoy the game) making many trial and error efforts until they discovered what works (that's marketing, by the way) and they honed their approach based on the feedback. They've been pushing it and polishing their act for 30 odd years. 

The magic of exponential growth is that the greatest gains come at the end of the era where all the efforts of the previous 30 years begin to generate a big, apparently disproportionate demand for the game (spontaneously) which never existed before. You can't get to where they are overnight, so you've got start with what you can afford, and keep building.

My point is that anyone can start where they (Newcastle) started and follow their path, if the will exists.

What's missing, the (RL) world over is the will to get stuck in and do it.

I'm just saying with a sensible ''how to'' guide, the already established league administrations could make progress where otherwise, they might make too many mistakes and waste too much time, to succeed and eventually run out of steam.

Why try to re-invent the wheel? When its been done by someone else (in our gang). 

The trouble with your attitude Gubby is that you think nothing constructive can be done without a billionaire sugar daddy, which is just an excuse to do nothing.

How do you think the game is growing in Canada, USA, Jamaica, Uruguay, Brazil, ....the Balkans..... Africa......  the Pacific....... Well let me tell you, its not because they waited to find a fu.....g billionaire. 

Probably about a decade ago , before I posted on this site , I spent time on RL fans MB , in one of our many ' debates ' , many involving our apparently no longer on here ' expert ' Scotchy ( smokey TA on Rlfans ) , one of them was an idea I suggested for the RFL to fund teams of marketing footsoldiers , one allocated to each club , but for them to all work as teams focussing one one home game at each club in turn , all overseen by a local manager and then those answering to a GM/CEO , this way the various ideas and initiatives could be evalued ,tweaked and shared among the clubs , the feedback I got as usual was " why should clubs help each other " , so I am aware of the shortsightedness we see all too often 

So yes , of course there is more that can be done , but to suggest money isn't a part of it is nonsense 

I'm sure there are people doing great things in all those places you mention , I applaud them all , no doubt they are doing it for the love of the game rather than financial gain 

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5 hours ago, GUBRATS said:

So if Newcastle didn't have any money, would they be employing CO's setting up clubs and school tournaments ? 

Who would be doing it ? 

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 

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8 minutes ago, Newcastle Thunder said:

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 

Great stuff.

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7 hours ago, Newcastle Thunder said:

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 

My very last on this 

Most if not all clubs have similar foundations/trusts that do exactly the same

Again well done Newcastle Thunder 

 

 

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11 hours ago, GUBRATS said:

Well done Thunder 

That's me finished with this one 

 

35 minutes ago, GUBRATS said:

My very last on this 

Most if not all clubs have similar foundations/trusts that do exactly the same

Again well done Newcastle Thunder 

 

 

Your last,very last or very,very last ?

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2 minutes ago, sentoffagain2 said:

  Probably don't work as hard at it.

Quite, or prioritise it at the level that matters. Truth is for several middling sized heartland clubs the success of a club like Newcastle is actually quite embarrassing.

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58 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

Quite, or prioritise it at the level that matters. Truth is for several middling sized heartland clubs the success of a club like Newcastle is actually quite embarrassing.

Especially when people just try and simplify it by putting it down to money. Lets just ignore the money clubs spend on overseas players and players not good enough for Super League. Where there is a will there is a way.

The heartland clubs have huge built in advantages, that should make progress much easier, but instead we see decline in many places.

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33 minutes ago, Damien said:

Especially when people just try and simplify it by putting it down to money. Lets just ignore the money clubs spend on overseas players and players not good enough for Super League. Where there is a will there is a way.

The heartland clubs have huge built in advantages, that should make progress much easier, but instead we see decline in many places.

Time ti face facts Kurdi isn’t throwing millions at the club.

The big difference is Newcastle have chosen to invest a large chunk of their modest budget in youth development rather than filling their first team full of players on big money and have done so with a fraction of what the top championship clubs receive in central funding.

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One of the things I find curious about this thread is that no-one is asking how they really did it? (Except me.)

What does that mean?

1. Does it mean everybody thinks they know how to do it, so don't need to ask. 

2. Or is it that everyone is afraid to admit they don't know? Most of the Pro' clubs wouldn't even dream of asking another club (a deadly rival) for advice on how to do it.

3. Or maybe no-one really cares how its done, ('cos we're not going to do anything about it anyhow).

I don't know the answer but I just know that they're three reasons why the game is in such a bloody awful state. 

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59 minutes ago, Damien said:

Especially when people just try and simplify it by putting it down to money. Lets just ignore the money clubs spend on overseas players and players not good enough for Super League. Where there is a will there is a way.

The heartland clubs have huge built in advantages, that should make progress much easier, but instead we see decline in many places.

Absolutely. Those in built advantages of the sport already having a 100 year presence and popularity compensate massively for financial investment, yet that is never recognised...

To be fair from the outside it seems the Falcons are managed with a similar community focussed mindset (plenty of community club jerseys up in the concourse of the main stand for example). It is certainly an organisation a lot of similar sized League clubs could learn from.

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1 hour ago, fighting irish said:

One of the things I find curious about this thread is that no-one is asking how they really did it? (Except me.)

What does that mean?

1. Does it mean everybody thinks they know how to do it, so don't need to ask. 

2. Or is it that everyone is afraid to admit they don't know? Most of the Pro' clubs wouldn't even dream of asking another club (a deadly rival) for advice on how to do it.

3. Or maybe no-one really cares how its done, ('cos we're not going to do anything about it anyhow).

I don't know the answer but I just know that they're three reasons why the game is in such a bloody awful state. 

fi - let me attempt to answer, although i'm sure others are better qualified. Firstly, other foundations have done this successfully - I know of the work Leeds do which has seen a number of new junior clubs setup. Wakefield have also been supporting a number of the Midlands clubs (Bolsover, Immingham), whilst Saints have been supporting the efforts in Cornwall. Part of the funding comes through Sky Try, although Foundations are able to tap into many other sources of income through their charitable status.

The question on whether Newcastle's development should be a blueprint is a good one, and has been raised before. I've been told they work hand in hand with the RFL so clearly they're aware. Whether it's a model that can be rolled out in other non-heartland areas i'm not sure. Perhaps the All Golds developments are along similar lines?

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One of the things that is overlooked constantly is the role that the community clubs and specifically the volunteers have played in the emergence of the game in the North East. 

Newcastle Thunder do not wave a magic wand and RL appears, equally they do not pour £££s into the game. 

The North East, up until March 2013 had 4 RFL staff who were all made redundant due to reductions in Sport England funding, the North East then had the support of an allocated member of staff from the RFL but the day to day running of the North East RL then fell to a group of dedicated volunteers with Jim Shuttleworth (at the time, now Dave Raybould) supporting centrally. 

The reason the game is so strong in the area is primarily to the hard work of volunteers on the ground keeping their clubs going, not just waiting for things to be handed to them. It is now a huge benefit to have a Pro club that can provide resources to help sustain the growth but the foundations have been built long before Thunder moved to Newcastle. 

When the RFL withdrew the Regional Academy (of which the Midlands and Cumbria both had one) Newcastle took on the responsibility of this as they identified the need for this to be able to provide players with the opportunity to play the game at the highest level. One such player, Sam Luckley was previously involved in the North East Thunder Regional Academy under Andy Kelly, and is set to make his debut in SL this season for Salford Red Devils at the age of 25. This would not have been possible if not for the foundations of the game being set and the opportunities to play the game at University level with Northumbria. Sam completed a Bsc and a Masters degree and only now is getting a SL opportunity. 

Newcastle Thunder have supplemented and supported the growth of the game in the North East but its not all free coaching through Sky Try that has brought the rewards. There are a number of coaches on the ground providing coaching in schools and spreading the word, with clubs/schools paying for this and seeing a return on their investment.

It may be a controversial opinion but for me the reason it hasn't happened in the other regions is simply that people have not done the work its taken. As a region, we in the North East had a choice, to make it happen or let the game dwindle away, we chose the first, and Thunder then added some resource to it. The game has firm foundations and is healthier than ever, and if Semore Kurdi decided to walk away and take his money out of the game, the sport would still survive, and in my opinion continue to grow.

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On 26/02/2021 at 23:29, Newcastle Thunder said:

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 

Hallelujah!

Thank you for that.

From now on no-one will be able to say it can't be done.

Congratulations.

Please write the ''how-to'' guide?

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1 hour ago, Tex said:

One of the things that is overlooked constantly is the role that the community clubs and specifically the volunteers have played in the emergence of the game in the North East. 

Newcastle Thunder do not wave a magic wand and RL appears, equally they do not pour £££s into the game. 

The North East, up until March 2013 had 4 RFL staff who were all made redundant due to reductions in Sport England funding, the North East then had the support of an allocated member of staff from the RFL but the day to day running of the North East RL then fell to a group of dedicated volunteers with Jim Shuttleworth (at the time, now Dave Raybould) supporting centrally. 

The reason the game is so strong in the area is primarily to the hard work of volunteers on the ground keeping their clubs going, not just waiting for things to be handed to them. It is now a huge benefit to have a Pro club that can provide resources to help sustain the growth but the foundations have been built long before Thunder moved to Newcastle. 

When the RFL withdrew the Regional Academy (of which the Midlands and Cumbria both had one) Newcastle took on the responsibility of this as they identified the need for this to be able to provide players with the opportunity to play the game at the highest level. One such player, Sam Luckley was previously involved in the North East Thunder Regional Academy under Andy Kelly, and is set to make his debut in SL this season for Salford Red Devils at the age of 25. This would not have been possible if not for the foundations of the game being set and the opportunities to play the game at University level with Northumbria. Sam completed a Bsc and a Masters degree and only now is getting a SL opportunity. 

Newcastle Thunder have supplemented and supported the growth of the game in the North East but its not all free coaching through Sky Try that has brought the rewards. There are a number of coaches on the ground providing coaching in schools and spreading the word, with clubs/schools paying for this and seeing a return on their investment.

It may be a controversial opinion but for me the reason it hasn't happened in the other regions is simply that people have not done the work its taken. As a region, we in the North East had a choice, to make it happen or let the game dwindle away, we chose the first, and Thunder then added some resource to it. The game has firm foundations and is healthier than ever, and if Semore Kurdi decided to walk away and take his money out of the game, the sport would still survive, and in my opinion continue to grow.

Hear hear!!!! Congratulations to everyone concerned and thank you.

Please, please consider writing a ''how to'' guide to enthuse, encourage and empower any ''would-be developers'' around the country and the world.

I'm sure all the existing (amateur) league administrations could follow you on this path with a bit of guidance and give a huge boost to player participation. 

Anyway, well done, great work. 

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22 hours ago, Tex said:

One of the things that is overlooked constantly is the role that the community clubs and specifically the volunteers have played in the emergence of the game in the North East. 

Newcastle Thunder do not wave a magic wand and RL appears, equally they do not pour £££s into the game. 

The North East, up until March 2013 had 4 RFL staff who were all made redundant due to reductions in Sport England funding, the North East then had the support of an allocated member of staff from the RFL but the day to day running of the North East RL then fell to a group of dedicated volunteers with Jim Shuttleworth (at the time, now Dave Raybould) supporting centrally. 

The reason the game is so strong in the area is primarily to the hard work of volunteers on the ground keeping their clubs going, not just waiting for things to be handed to them. It is now a huge benefit to have a Pro club that can provide resources to help sustain the growth but the foundations have been built long before Thunder moved to Newcastle. 

When the RFL withdrew the Regional Academy (of which the Midlands and Cumbria both had one) Newcastle took on the responsibility of this as they identified the need for this to be able to provide players with the opportunity to play the game at the highest level. One such player, Sam Luckley was previously involved in the North East Thunder Regional Academy under Andy Kelly, and is set to make his debut in SL this season for Salford Red Devils at the age of 25. This would not have been possible if not for the foundations of the game being set and the opportunities to play the game at University level with Northumbria. Sam completed a Bsc and a Masters degree and only now is getting a SL opportunity. 

Newcastle Thunder have supplemented and supported the growth of the game in the North East but its not all free coaching through Sky Try that has brought the rewards. There are a number of coaches on the ground providing coaching in schools and spreading the word, with clubs/schools paying for this and seeing a return on their investment.

It may be a controversial opinion but for me the reason it hasn't happened in the other regions is simply that people have not done the work its taken. As a region, we in the North East had a choice, to make it happen or let the game dwindle away, we chose the first, and Thunder then added some resource to it. The game has firm foundations and is healthier than ever, and if Semore Kurdi decided to walk away and take his money out of the game, the sport would still survive, and in my opinion continue to grow.

An absolutely fantastic, and very informative, post 👏

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