Sharlston Rovers
Sharlston Rovers
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Sharlston Rovers
Amateur Rugby League Football CLUB
Sharlston Rovers ARLFC is enjoying a fine season on the pitch and
with a strong team behind the scenes working hard they appear to
be well set up for a bright future. We recently caught up with Club
Representative Gordie Long to find out more.
Involvement
Gordie told us, “I have been involved with Sharlston
Rovers for over seventeen years now as a player, a coach and
in more recent years the head of the junior section. I was first
attracted to the club when I moved into the village, as I am
originally from a nearby village.
At the time I was playing for Bramley but I was in the
process of retiring from professional Rugby League. I wanted
to pursue my interest in coaching and Sharlston gave me an
opportunity to become a player coach, and I have dedicated
my time to the club ever since.”
The Role
“I think the most challenging aspect of being involved with
any amateur club is the day to day running. All the people
involved with the club from the open age team to the junior
section are volunteers and we all have work commitments too.
It was a big challenge for me personally when we decided
to set up the junior section four years ago. At the time I was
coaching the open age summer team, so I had to split my
time between them and the junior section. But this also led to
probably one of the most rewarding aspects of my role as well.
When we set up the juniors we had 15 children who came
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down; we persevered and we now have over 100 children
signed up. I love to see the smiles on their faces and to see
them enjoying themselves. As a coach and player I have won
numerous cup finals but the best day out of them all is when
we beat Dewsbury Rams (professional side) in a challenge cup
game.”
Atmosphere
“We have a very positive mood down at the club at the
moment. The open age is doing very well in the league and
we are attracting younger players who are learning a lot from
our more experienced p layers. The junior section is expanding
every season with new players joining on a weekly basis. There
is a real buzz around the club at the present time.”
2017
“2017 was very successful for us. Last year was only the
second season for the junior section and it completely exceeded
our expectations. We now have children signed up at the club
who range between the ages of 4-13 years. All age groups are
playing some very good Rugby League and showing some
great skills.
In 2017, the junior committee put a lot of work into
establishing Sharlston Rovers Juniors as a registered charity
and worked on lots of fund raising projects and events. We also
became a learning Destination for the Children’s university
which means children get rewarded for doing something they
enjoy.”
2018
“We want to increase our playing numbers for all our junior
and open age teams. The junior’s are planning vast amounts of
fund raising events so we can give back to the children and the
community.
The rugby section works alongside the Sharlston Sports
club who again hold various events and we both work in
partnership to try and make these events as successful as
possible. We are also looking to help various charities in 2018.”
T Lingard & Sons
Built on solid foundations
Youth
“The youth section is the future of this club. We are
looking to progress our children through all the age groups
in preparation for moving them to the open age teams. The
youth section of the club has now become the back bone and
the children provide a real positive atmosphere around the
place because they bring such enjoyment and fun to the game.”
Community
“We run Sharlston Rovers very much as a community
club; we attract players not only from the village but also the
surrounding areas. Our club is one of the few clubs in this area
that also run a tots training session for children aged 4 years.
As Sharlston is an ex mining village it is lacking in
regeneration and the rugby club provides much needed
enjoyment for all the community not just the players. We hold
various events for the village including our summer gala and
Christmas fair and we try to involve local businesses where
possible.”
Facilities
“The junior section has been doing
copious amounts of fundraising
and applying for various grants
to raise much needed funds
for the improvement of
our ground facilities. We
currently have the open age
team, four junior teams,
the tots sections (which
have over 30 children in
attendance), the Wakefield
Trinity ladies team and we
are hoping to introduce an
under 12’s girls team, all
playing and training twice a
week from one pitch.
We are in desperate need of
ground and facility improvements
and expansion. The winter training
proves very difficult as the pitch
cannot cope with the demands of all the
teams who all train twice per week and all
play weekly matches.
We are trying to secure two rugby pitches, introduce
floodlights and build an all-weather pitch for both the school
and our rugby club to use however, this is dependent on
07816634422
Groundwork Contractors
Proud Sponsors of Sharlston
Rovers Juniors Rugby Club
securing grants and fundraising which can sometimes be
difficult as there is a lot of competition when it comes to grant
applications.”
Challenges/Ambitions
“The biggest challenge we may face in the next
five years is for us to be able to accommodate
the yearly increasing numbers. Our
current facilities are not suitable for
the demand at the moment. We
need to retain the children we
already have signed on with
the club but also attract new
players especially as we are in
competition with other clubs
in such a small radius.
Without expanding our
facilities and playing fields
we could potentially not
be able to sustain the rising
number which would be a
real shame for the community
especially when so much
effort and time has been put
into setting up the junior section.
Our main priority in our five
year plan is to improve our ground
facilities or secure additional playing
fields. We are also looking to have another
five age groups with the junior section. We
would hope some of our players obtain scholarships
for professional clubs and also encourage the flow of the youth
players through to the open age team.”
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