Coventry Bears announce plans for community clubs

[fighting irish]

9 hours ago, unapologetic pedant said:

One hope for the growth in the Midlands and North-East is that we might finally get away from over-emphasis on the pro-game and top-down development. This albatross has its roots in 1895.

If a town in the midlands had no pro-team but more registrations and volunteers than a town in West Yorkshire which did have a pro team, we might start to think differently about what constitutes a RL heartland.

Now you're talking. You're not an ex-BARLA zealot are you?

[Styx]

20 hours ago, Cumbrian Mackem said:

Amazes me why the All Golds don’t target Swindon instead of Bristol as it’s a decent sized town of nearly 230k with no professional union side compared to Bristol which has the massive union club and 2 football sides.

Might have something to do with the fact that there is a well run club called Swindon St George who are already running two open age men's teams, a women's team, and a thriving juniors section. Swindon St george are doing a great job within the town and it's surrounds.

[Cumbrian Mackem]

2 minutes ago, Styx said:

Might have something to do with the fact that there is a well run club called Swindon St George who are already running two open age men's teams, a women's team, and a thriving juniors section. Swindon St george are doing a great job within the town and it's surrounds.

That’s great but I was thinking more along the lines of a semi-professional side based out of Swindon.

[del capo]

5 hours ago, fighting irish said:

Now you're talking. You're not an ex-BARLA zealot are you?

Behave Irish

Barla saved TGG from the mid seventies onwards before it lost its way. Top downwards only leads to a burial  of the game as Barla people then realised.

Can you imagine in 1973 only one Open Age side in Wigan scratching around to make up 13 ?  That's where we were then and It musn't  be  the same ever again. 

 With less than ten years old  from the rebirth that was Barla  I well remember my own  junior club  (without Academies and all that ) putting out  7  GB Lions for an 80's Tour to Australia.  Progress. They were more than successful then  than  those since .

There is a photo on the club wall.

The post is though well made.

It has to be grassroots upwards , wherever they are planted and nurtured. Background and family ( most of the guys playing now are steeped in our game - just like RU ). remain important.

So good luck to Skolars, Coventry and Newcastle They are getting it right. Being born in Billinge Hospital ( Wigan and St Helens maternity unit )  never had an RL syringe drip attached to the babies  to make them  RL players .

   I say follow the Jesuit creed - give me the boy at 7 and I will give you the man. That's the only edge the Heartlands ever had.  Start young, that's where we get our players from. It's the only volume  way.

 We can do that from anywhere in the Country.   It's time to break out from the Heartlands  and support  those clubs trying to do it right...

[fighting irish]

14 hours ago, del capo said:

Behave Irish

Barla saved TGG from the mid seventies onwards before it lost its way. Top downwards only leads to a burial  of the game as Barla people then realised.

Can you imagine in 1973 only one Open Age side in Wigan scratching around to make up 13 ?  That's where we were then and It musn't  be  the same ever again. 

 With less than ten years old  from the rebirth that was Barla  I well remember my own  junior club  (without Academies and all that ) putting out  7  GB Lions for an 80's Tour to Australia.  Progress. They were more than successful then  than  those since .

There is a photo on the club wall.

The post is though well made.

It has to be grassroots upwards , wherever they are planted and nurtured. Background and family ( most of the guys playing now are steeped in our game - just like RU ). remain important.

So good luck to Skolars, Coventry and Newcastle They are getting it right. Being born in Billinge Hospital ( Wigan and St Helens maternity unit )  never had an RL syringe drip attached to the babies  to make them  RL players .

   I say follow the Jesuit creed - give me the boy at 7 and I will give you the man. That's the only edge the Heartlands ever had.  Start young, that's where we get our players from. It's the only volume  way.

 We can do that from anywhere in the Country.   It's time to break out from the Heartlands  and support  those clubs trying to do it right...

Hey Del' You have (I fear,) completely misunderstood my comment. I agree with everything you say above.

If you have taken any notice of the huge volume of posts I've made here, on the subject of development you will have noticed that I am a staunch advocate of grass roots development. I agree that BARLA made a great job of saving the amateur game and promoting growth in their heyday.

I don't know how the RFL managed to neuter them, but (as far as I can tell) the amateur game has been in decline since it happened. The RFL's record is poor, no argument.

When I commented ''now you're talking'' I was being sincere and congratulatory.

I have urged every amateur club and local league administration committee, to grasp the nettle and take (some) responsibility for growing the game themselves, rather than rely on ''help'' from the RFL or SL, because based on recent history, the help ain't coming!

I wish BARLA were still running the amateur game, they were at least ''building'' the game.

This shower, we've got now can't even manage their own show, let alone administer and grow the entire grassroots.

They're out of their depth and the grassroots game is way, way down on their list of priorities. 

[del capo]

2 hours ago, fighting irish said:

Hey Del' You have (I fear,) completely misunderstood my comment. I agree with everything you say above.

If you have taken any notice of the huge volume of posts I've made here, on the subject of development you will have noticed that I am a staunch advocate of grass roots development. I agree that BARLA made a great job of saving the amateur game and promoting growth in their heyday.

I don't know how the RFL managed to neuter them, but (as far as I can tell) the amateur game has been in decline since it happened. The RFL's record is poor, no argument.

When I commented ''now you're talking'' I was being sincere and congratulatory.

I have urged every amateur club and local league administration committee, to grasp the nettle and take (some) responsibility for growing the game themselves, rather than rely on ''help'' from the RFL or SL, because based on recent history, the help ain't coming!

I wish BARLA were still running the amateur game, they were at least ''building'' the game.

This shower, we've got now can't even manage their own show, let alone administer and grow the entire grassroots.

Their out of their depth and the grassroots game is way, way down on their list of priorities. 

I enjoy your posts Irish. You share my view that this game is lost without its grass roots and that they are not being looked after as well as they should be.

Barla actually neutered itself. I recall Kath Hetherington as RFL President all those years ago offering  1 million pa to  the amateurs to  re unite. The  Barla grey men blocked it and that started the decline.

 Some time thereafter  (2003 )the Government forced a single body solution via the Sports Council. Richard Lewis kept the show on the road but it has to be said that until a few years ago the grassroots were ignored.

Scholarship and Academy players as far as the professionals are concerned simply come off a magic money tree. The RFL rolled over in Nigel's era  to the pro clubs and allowed them to take over junior development without  a compensating  input to the grass roots , thereby  severely damaging the game as a whole.

One of the first ports of call when IL took over at Wigan was a visit with Madge to St Pats to ask for the best youth coaches, just to transport them to a pro outfit at vast cost to the game when they had previously been doing it for nothing ? Not knocking the lads - good luck to them and their careers  but really did that enhance the game especially as it was replicated all over the North ?

The recent disconnect between the RFL and SL has made the former reflect on it's position and I believe allowed a new concentration on where it should be -   everything outside  and below SL.  Time will tell..  here's hoping....

[OriginalMrC]

1 hour ago, del capo said:

I enjoy your posts Irish. You share my view that this game is lost without its grass roots and that they are not being looked after as well as they should be.

Barla actually neutered itself. I recall Kath Hetherington as RFL President all those years ago offering  1 million pa to  the amateurs to  re unite. The  Barla grey men blocked it and that started the decline.

 Some time thereafter  (2003 )the Government forced a single body solution via the Sports Council. Richard Lewis kept the show on the road but it has to be said that until a few years ago the grassroots were ignored.

Scholarship and Academy players as far as the professionals are concerned simply come off a magic money tree. The RFL rolled over in Nigel's era  to the pro clubs and allowed them to take over junior development without  a compensating  input to the grass roots , thereby  severely damaging the game as a whole.

One of the first ports of call when IL took over at Wigan was a visit with Madge to St Pats to ask for the best youth coaches, just to transport them to a pro outfit at vast cost to the game when they had previously been doing it for nothing ? Not knocking the lads - good luck to them and their careers  but really did that enhance the game especially as it was replicated all over the North ?

The recent disconnect between the RFL and SL has made the former reflect on it's position and I believe allowed a new concentration on where it should be -   everything outside  and below SL.  Time will tell..  here's hoping....

I think the RFL are more in touch with the grassroots game than they have been for some time. I know there's a lot of criticism and some recent decisions about fees etc have not been popular but I think on the whole they are trying to build a strong grassroots game which is a good thing 

[fighting irish]

10 hours ago, del capo said:

I enjoy your posts Irish. You share my view that this game is lost without its grass roots and that they are not being looked after as well as they should be.

Barla actually neutered itself. I recall Kath Hetherington as RFL President all those years ago offering  1 million pa to  the amateurs to  re unite. The  Barla grey men blocked it and that started the decline.

 Some time thereafter  (2003 )the Government forced a single body solution via the Sports Council. Richard Lewis kept the show on the road but it has to be said that until a few years ago the grassroots were ignored.

Scholarship and Academy players as far as the professionals are concerned simply come off a magic money tree. The RFL rolled over in Nigel's era  to the pro clubs and allowed them to take over junior development without  a compensating  input to the grass roots , thereby  severely damaging the game as a whole.

One of the first ports of call when IL took over at Wigan was a visit with Madge to St Pats to ask for the best youth coaches, just to transport them to a pro outfit at vast cost to the game when they had previously been doing it for nothing ? Not knocking the lads - good luck to them and their careers  but really did that enhance the game especially as it was replicated all over the North ?

The recent disconnect between the RFL and SL has made the former reflect on it's position and I believe allowed a new concentration on where it should be -   everything outside  and below SL.  Time will tell..  here's hoping....

When the Sports Council forced the single body solution, it would have been better if Barla had taken over (perhaps renamed BRLA) and left the 30 odd professional clubs to carry on, on their own (a private club within the overarching umbrella of BRLA).

We'd probably have an organisation properly focused on growth in participation (for the good of the game) and allowed the SL/RFL cabal, to fu.....it all up, for themselves. 

[Gomersall]

 

[fighting irish]

On 30/04/2021 at 22:34, OriginalMrC said:

I think the RFL are more in touch with the grassroots game than they have been for some time. I know there's a lot of criticism and some recent decisions about fees etc have not been popular but I think on the whole they are trying to build a strong grassroots game which is a good thing 

I hope you're right mate.

My rallying cry, is don't rely on them!

I'm calling on every amateur (and pro) club, local league, county organisation, college and university club, to get with ''the programme''.

Maintaining the status quo, is simply not enough.

If we are not growing, we're going nowhere (and probably dieing) and that warning applies in every area of the game, of the country and the world over. 

[Cumbrian Mackem]

1 hour ago, fighting irish said:

I hope you're right mate.

My rallying cry, is don't rely on them!

I'm calling on every amateur (and pro) club, local league, county organisation, college and university club, to get with ''the programme''.

Maintaining the status quo, is simply not enough.

If we are not growing, we're going nowhere (and probably dieing) and that warning applies in every area of the game, of the country and the world over. 

This. We as in the game in general should be setting realistic and achievable goals every year in terms of expansion at the grassroots level throughout the U.K.

What the Coventry bears and Newcastle thunder are doing is very inspiring and should be replicated everywhere be it in areas within the “heartlands” that are untapped like Preston, Burnley and Blackburn etc to expansion areas within the West Midlands linking up to the East Midlands.

Hopefully these new community clubs setup by the bears recently will encourage more growth in nearby areas in the West Midlands creating more teams and competitions for them to participate in.

[JM2010]

2 hours ago, Cumbrian Mackem said:

This. We as in the game in general should be setting realistic and achievable goals every year in terms of expansion at the grassroots level throughout the U.K.

What the Coventry bears and Newcastle thunder are doing is very inspiring and should be replicated everywhere be it in areas within the “heartlands” that are untapped like Preston, Burnley and Blackburn etc to expansion areas within the West Midlands linking up to the East Midlands.

Hopefully these new community clubs setup by the bears recently will encourage more growth in nearby areas in the West Midlands creating more teams and competitions for them to participate in.

I think once development areas start to get more and more community clubs it makes it easier to start new clubs as they have teams to play locally rather than having to travel for games. 

This should also help in areas close to the heartlands, such as Preston, Manchester etc as they have lots of clubs on their doorstep and established leagues they can play in.