As our Men's first XV get ready to kick off their season on Saturday 4th September away to Barnsley and the ladies later on the 25th at Leicester, here's a round-up of what is happening across the club to kick off the new season.

Men

It was a big week before the start of the season.
The men's side had a Tuesday training session before their pre season game against Leodesians. A lot of running was done!
The game was a buzz to play in, new structure & a new sycamores. The men's team played with a lot of heart and passion meeting the standards of their Yorkshire 1 competitors. WPL played with a great tempo that kept them in the game, the boys made good clear decisions. Leos pride themselves with their scrum however the WPL lads showed a determination that met and excelled that standard driving Leos back and turning over the ball at key points in the game.

The backline showed a brilliant set piece structure and utilised forward ball momentum gaining territory and put their bodies on the line for the team. The backs played a crucial part in the game by really working with the forwards picking the opportunities identified by the Captain, Andy 'Crunch' Cromack.

“It was great to finally get out on the pitch and try and implement all the structure Jimmy (Lowes - Director of Rugby) has been teaching us since he arrived. The lads acted valiantly defending our own line for long periods of time through the game. Looking forward to Barnsley and build on what was learnt from a good run out competing two leagues above us” - Andy Cromack.
The score ended 20-10 to Leos. A big thank you to them for helping us wipe off some dust and go well into their season!

Training is every Tuesday & Thursday at 7:15pm and everybody is welcome. More info - mens@westparkleeds.com

Ladies

The season is shaping up to be one of the most exciting yet as the women’s 1st XV look to secure their 4th successive league title in Championship North 1 and the womens 2nd XV look to build on previous seasons and start to pick up some more wins to climb the table with new captain Laura Benson. Coaches Adam Faulkner, Kurt Nutchey and Kris Stafford have been keen to implement a one squad approach in pre season and it has been great to see so many new faces down at training as some of our existing players finish off the Super League season coming back into the squad with excellent match fitness.

After the squad failed to secure a place in the Premiership at the end of the 2020 season through the highly competitive application process where we lost out to Exeter Chiefs and Sale Sharks, the squad are keen to continue their strong run of form and cement themselves as the best female team outside the premiership in England. The women's 1st XV are looking to play a lot of their fixtures on Saturday this season so it would be great for members to get down early or stay late to support the high flying women’s team who have been an outstanding success for the Club over the past few seasons.
It's Leicester Tigers / Lichfield away on the 25th September for the 1st XV and the 2nd XV host Burnley on the 26th.
A special mention for Kira Drabble as she has become the longest serving female player for the club (and with many more years to come for her!)..

Training is every Thursday evening at 7:15pm and every woman is welcome regardless of experience or ability. More info - ladies@westparkleeds.com

Mini & Junior

This weekend sees the start of mini and junior rugby for many excited boys and girls in the club. Our mini and junior section is the largest in the club and is a hive of activity every Sunday morning and Wednesday evenings. With such a disrupted season, the RFU have sensibly given direction for rule changes to be only introduced in January - giving all the children the opportunity to learn last years rule changes.
If you are interested in joining, it's mixed (boys and girls) from Under 6 to Under 11, and it's boys from U12 to U16 & Colts and the girls have U13, U15 and U18 teams.
Our Mini & Junior are active on Team App - explore more at https://westparkleedsrufc.teamapp.com/
Contact minijunior@westparkleeds.com if you want to get involved

Social

To kick off the new season, on Saturday 25 September, Club Captain, Tom Howard, is hosting a cocktail evening with live music from fantastic covers band Admiral Boom - playing classics from Oasis to Queen to Abba and everything in between. . Specialist cocktail company, Northern Shakers, will create a wide range of popular favourites including Pornstar and Espresso Martini’s, Long Island Iced Tea’s, Strawberry Daiquiri’s and Mojito’s. All reasonably priced at just £6 each or 2 for £10.

Tickets are £15 per person (which includes two cocktails of your choice) and available via team managers or online here from EventBrite

Hot on the heels of this, Tom is also organising a Halloween Oktoberfest evening on Saturday 30 October, with a live Oompah band and German Steins. More details to follow.

More info about the socials - clubcaptain@westparkleeds.com

Dates for your diary
25 Sept - Cocktails and Shakers evening
30 Oct - Halloween Octoberfest
11 December - Xmas evening function
18 December - Xmas jumpers day
5 March - Players reunion
9 July 2022 - Beer & Music Festival

Our Community

Over the summer the club has hosted a series of successful defibrillator and CPR training sessions, giving local residents a valuable insight into how to deal with a heart attack and cardiac arrest - thanks to Glyn Jones and Jo Chadwick for making this happen.

Thanks to the generous donations of those attending Adam’s Bootcamp the club has now raised enough funds to provide a wall-mounted external defibrillator, making it accessible to the whole community. Extra funds are still being gathered and will contribute towards its upkeep. To donate please visit our justgiving page

Adam’s Boot Camp is a FREE 1hr fitness session, running on Monday and Thursday evenings, 6.30pm start. Run by Adam Machell (former Headingley, Leeds and North of England Rugby Legend who started with the Colts at West Park Bramhope under 'Digger' Booth!) It’s fun, friendly, caters for all levels of fitness and is available to anyone aged between 8 and 80. More info about timing and dates on his facebook page here

Membership, Facilities & Room Hire

If you are interested in joining the club or looking to hire the facilities for a function, contact secretary@westparkleeds.com You can take a 3D Virtual Tour of the clubhouse set for an evening function (thanks to Apollo3D.co.uk) here

Sponsorship

We have a wide range of sponsorship packages available from online mentions through to full team sponsorship. If you or your business would like more info, then contact marketing@westparkleeds.com

Finally - don't forget that Leeds Tykes are now based at the Sycamores. This means you'll have plenty rugby to enjoy at the weekend - all their fixtures are listed on the website. They are also very active on Twitter - keep up to date and follow them @leedstykes

Thanks
The Volunteer Comms Team