Judes Junior Section Review - 2022

31 Dec 2022 in Club News

Judes Junior Section Review - 2022 Judes Junior Section Review - 2022

Dear St Judes ARLFC Community,

As we close in on the end of another year of junior rugby at St Judes, I feel great pride knowing that we play a major part in ensuring opportunities are provided in sport, and, more notably, rugby league for so many children at Wigan St Judes.

 

After the major interruptions to sport in general over the last couple of years, through lockdowns and restrictions, it was very pleasing to see the 2022 season completed without any interruptions.

Year in review

The 2022 season saw us field over 400 junior players across 17 teams from Newbies right through to U18s. We successfully completed another year of our ‘Ruggas’ programme for the 3 to 6 age range as we see another group of players graduating to Newbies for the 2023 season!

 

At the older end of the junior section, we had great team success in the leagues & cup competitions - boasting a number of titles this year. Congratulations to;

 

  • U18s – Lancashire Cup Winners

  • U16S – NWC Cup Winners & 3rd in the Premier Division

  • U15s – NWC Cup Winners

  • U13s Maroons – NWC Division 2 Winners

  • U12 – NWC Cup Finalists

 

Our junior section also boasted a number of individual achievements in 2022, congratulations to the following players;

 

Wigan St Judes U18s

England U18s Community Lions Honours;

Calum Palmer

Roman Shinks

Danny Frost

 

Wigan St Judes U16s

Scholarship

Austin Daniel - St Helens

Malachi Price - St Helens

Luis Houghton - Wigan

 

Academy

Taylor Kerr - Wigan Warriors

George O'Loughlin - Wigan Warriors

Nathan Lowe - Wigan Warriors

 

England Community Lions Honours;

Oliver Wright

Rohan Green

Lewis Topping

 

Albanian National Team

Elton Paplekaj

 

Players Currently invited for Warriors Academy trials

Sam Atkinson

Malachi Price

Sean Makhaza

Lewis Topping

 

Wigan St Judes U15s

Scholarship

Nathan Stafford - St Helens

Keagan Allibone - St Helens

Alfie Tate – St Helens

Jaiden Drachenberg - Wigan

 

 

 

 

Our U7s held a Junior Festival in April with huge success. We welcomed 14 teams on the day with over 200 young aspiring rugby league players taking to the pitches over the course of the day. There was lots of fun, smiles and happy faces. Well done to our U7s for creating such a fantastic sporting environment and encouraging the club’s ethos. Particularly Craig Horrigan who worked tirelessly to ensure the day was an exciting success.

 

Our U13s Maroons also hosted a 9s tournament and summer festival in July which was another massive success. Again 14 teams entered from as far as Yorkshire, over 200 players took part in the day. Congratulations to Thatto Heath winning the Cup and also to our U13s Golds on winning the plate. Special mention to the U13s parents who perfectly organised such a fantastic occasion.

 

This Christmas period was one for giving! We were extremely proud of both our U10s Maroons and our U10s Golds for reaching out into the community where they delivered gifts to a care home and a children’s hospital. Special mention to Lisa Faulkner and Michael Richardson for their hard work making this happen.


Plans for 2023

Its very pleasing to see the 2023 registration process for our junior players is almost complete for all age groups with a high uptake on returning players and new players being welcomed into the club.

 

Having worked hard in the off season we have, yet again, registered all coaches and volunteers for each age group for the 2023 season ensuring qualifications and accreditations conform and are up to date.

 

Again, it is very pleasing to see we have more volunteers registered for the 2023 than ever before, I would personally like to extend my thanks to everyone who has given up their own time to make this happen.

 

Plans are already in place early January where we will run a series of mental fitness workshops for our youth section in conjunction with RL Cares, here is a link for a promo video released by RL Cares on this subject

 

https://youtu.be/mtsj_XuVJdU

 

 

Promoting positive change around the subject of mental health amongst our players and staff.

 

On the rugby front, we are looking forward to the return of our Annual 9s Festival in early summer, with the possibility of a number of festival days for our younger age groups from u7s to u12s.

 

After the success of our Christmas outreach, which was brilliantly planned by a couple of our junior teams, we will be looking to build on this and reach out further into the community than ever before with a number of club initiatives that will be designed to benefit our local community and its residences.

 


Thank you

Lastly, we would like to thank all our volunteers for giving up their free time. For the hours of hard work that they put in all year-round week in week out, it is very much appreciated.

Our club committee for their never – ending support for all at St Judes and for constantly pushing the club forward to ensure that each year we grow and continue to provide a much needed and welcoming facility for our local community to enjoy.

A huge thank you to former Chair, John Davenport, who, after over two decades voluntary service at our club, retired this year and has been an incredibly hard act to follow. We look forward to seeing you at the bar in 2023 – drinks are on you John!

We would also like to give a special mention to all our parents and carers at the club, without your support and dedication to your children, the club wouldn’t be as vibrant and welcoming as it is, especially on match days.

Finally, our players, the lifeblood of our club. Thank you for choosing Wigan St Judes, we will continue to provide you with a safe and happy environment. We are proud of every one of you.

 

As a junior section, we are extremely excited for the challenges ahead of us in 2023 and we can’t wait to get working on some of the exciting updates we have mentioned!

Have a great NEW YEAR and all the best for 2023.

Ian Worthington
Junior Chairman

For, and on behalf of, the Junior Committee

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