Gloucestershire Warriors

With only weeks to go before the kick-off of the 2012 season RFL staff in the South West are delighted with official statistics which demonstrate the continued growth of the sport in the region.

The burgeoning profile of Rugby League in the South West was further highlighted last weekend by the appearance of Bristol Sonics on Sky Sports News.

The RFL’s Regional Manager for the South West, Joe Catcheside said: “There were no RFL staff in the South West in 2008 and now there are four full time, and three part time development staff working with partner organisations.

“The increase in staffing has had a dramatic effect on the total Rugby League playing population in the South West which was approximately 700 across all ages three years ago, of whom 600 were over 16.

“Compare this to the latest figures from the last quarter of 2011 which show 2057 Rugby League participants, of whom 999 were adults and 1058 were under 16.

“Back in 2008 there was one only school competition in the South West region, with five schools competing at two age groups involving approximately 100 students.

“Now there are over 40 schools playing Rugby League, with local competitions in Devon, Bristol and Gloucestershire and Regional competitions at every age from Year 7 to Year 11 boys, and at Y7 girls. There are over 1000 pupils taking part and this figure is forecast to rise in 2012.

“Also in 2008 there was no junior activity at all outside the five schools in Gloucestershire whereas last year there were seven junior clubs at two age groups with 9 junior teams in all playing. In summer 2012, there will be 14 junior teams, plus two under-18 teams.

“There has also been an increase in the number of universities in the region playing Rugby League up from four teams at three universities in 2008 to nine teams from five universities today.

“Of these teams University of Gloucester are third in the elite Super 8 Student Competition and University of Exeter are the unbeaten champions of the Premier South Division for the second year running and have made the National Semi Finals twice in the last 3 years.

“The number of clubs based in the South West has also increased from nine in 2009 to 12 in 2012 with two clubs also running second teams.

“We’ve passed a number of landmarks in Cornwall over the last few years with the first ever Cornish team playing in 2010 and Cornwall staging its first ever game of Rugby League a year later.”

“We’ve also seen an increase in volunteers from 45 in 2008 to 192 in 2011 and a huge increase in the number of Level 2 coaches in the South West from nine in 2008 to 91 in January 2012. Every team in the region is now coached by a Level 2 coach.”

The future looks bright for Rugby League in the region with Bristol having been awarded host status for the 2013 RL World Cup meaning that the city will host its first Rugby League international for a century.

The bid consortium was led by the City Council, and includes Bristol Rovers FC, Bristol City FC, Destination Bristol, WESPORT County Sports Partnership, Filton College, and South Gloucestershire Council.

The South West is also hoping that it will have its first ever professional Rugby League team in competition very soon, possibly as early as 2013.


For more information about Rugby League in the South West visit: www.southwestrugbyleague.com