All Golds v NW Crusaders KPL1S 2017 Final
FREE Matchday magazine for Gloucestershire, professional rugby league squad, the All Golds as they take on North Wales Crusaders in the League 1 Shield FREE Matchday magazine for Gloucestershire, professional rugby league squad, the All Golds as they take on North Wales Crusaders in the League 1 Shield
FLAME OF THE WEST OR A DYING EMBER? WRITTEN BY CHRIS WILSON 18 It has been a tough season in the West of England which will have the administrators slightly worried. Their worries stretch to the Midlands where the Leicester Roosters and Leamington Royals withdrew from the competition mid-season and the Sherwood Wolf Hunt decided to focus on their second team early on in the summer. With only around four sides still in regular competition (Birmingham, Derby, Northampton and Coventry), a restructure looks on the cards. In the West of England, a fixture completion rate of around 68% marks a poor return for the support given to one of the largest leagues in the Community game but with Portsmouth and Southampton in the mix, the geographic spread was simply too wide. Indeed, neither of those sides played Bristol Sonics who have not played since they played Oxford at the beginning of July and have withdrawn from the play-offs. Where the geographic spread was too close, there was also trouble as the newly-formed Bath RL club’s presence had an effect on www.allgoldsrugby.com @AllGolds facebook.com/AllGoldsRugby
the two seasons old Bath & Wiltshire Romans side such that the Romans pulled out of the league midway through citing a lack of player numbers. The final round of fixtures in the West of England brought a flurry of unplayed games with the Gloucestershire Warriors’ fixture at Somerset Vikings (scheduled for Gloucester owing to the Vikings being unable to field a team for the scheduled trip to the Warriors earlier in the season) only going ahead when the Warriors agreed to travel – in the end with only 12 fit players. Forest Bulldogs perhaps encapsulate the problem in the area as they were unable to travel to Cheltenham and have withdrawn from the playoffs as the bulk of their side has gone back to playing their native sport – rugby union. By contrast, it should be noted, the South West is showing signs of growth with Devon Sharks and the Cornish Rebels playing the odd game and the Dorset Giants re-emerging under the guidance of Anthony Cowburn (no relation) and former Gloucestershire Warriors and University of Gloucestershire coach Steve Lee. Swindon St George should also be highly praised as they have fielded two teams week after week and the firsts deservedly top Pool 2 having lost just once, while the seconds have reached the Plate Final in next weekend’s double header Finals Day. But all this good work is overshadowed by suggestions on various online forums that the sport at the amateur or community level ‘barely exists’ and, given the number of scheduled matches not played (19 of the 60 scheduled West of England matches prior to the play-offs), it’s hard to argue with that assertion. In a recent issue of League Express, Phil Hodgson, a specialist in the grassroots rugby league, pointed out that according to figures compiled by Sport England from last February suggested that participation figures were down by nearly 10% from the previous year and by an alarming 39% over the last ten years. Red Hall (the home of the game’s governing body) is aware of the situation according to Hodgson and are trying to come up with solutions. He suggests that the switch to summer rugby is to blame and, while it may be the case in the game’s heartlands, without summer rugby league, there would simply be no rugby league in areas like the South West and the West of England and probably Wales as well. He does concede that the root cause is the lack of commitment of players, which seems also to be the case in winter as well as summer with heartland clubs running fewer sides. The argument does seem to hold water as rugby union clubs have experienced similar problems in their particular heartlands such as here in the south west. The problem, then seems to be fairly clear but the solution is not so. Short term, small leagues with a narrow geographic spread could be an answer but long-term strength is difficult to achieve. It all hinges on building clubs. Not teams, but clubs. Clubs with committees of more than two or three die-hard enthusiasts; clubs with well-organised and inclusive junior sections and clubs with their own facilities, a club house they can call home and engender a feeling of belonging. That will help to inspire some form of loyalty and commitment but it is difficult to see in this day and age with land and money for development in short supply how enough organisations working on that model will ever exist to ensure a strong and thriving sport right across the country from Cornwall to Cromarty. 19 Subscribe to our website mailing list to get exclusive All Golds news first.
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FLAME OF THE WEST<br />
OR A DYING EMBER?<br />
WRITTEN BY CHRIS WILSON<br />
18<br />
It has been a tough season in the West of<br />
England which will have the administrators<br />
slightly worried.<br />
Their worries stretch to the Midlands where<br />
the Leicester Roosters and Leamington<br />
Royals withdrew from the competition<br />
mid-season and the Sherwood Wolf Hunt<br />
decided to focus on their second team early<br />
on in the summer.<br />
With only around four sides still in<br />
regular competition (Birmingham, Derby,<br />
Northampton and Coventry), a restructure<br />
looks on the cards.<br />
In the West of England, a fixture completion<br />
rate of around 68% marks a poor return<br />
for the support given to one of the largest<br />
leagues in the Community game but with<br />
Portsmouth and Southampton in the mix,<br />
the geographic spread was simply too wide.<br />
Indeed, neither of those sides played Bristol<br />
Sonics who have not played since they<br />
played Oxford at the beginning of July and<br />
have withdrawn from the play-offs.<br />
Where the geographic spread was too close,<br />
there was also trouble as the newly-formed<br />
Bath RL club’s presence had an effect on<br />
www.allgoldsrugby.com<br />
@<strong>All</strong><strong>Golds</strong> facebook.com/<strong>All</strong><strong>Golds</strong>Rugby
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