NORTH East Worcestershire Ravens are excited ahead of the start of the new season and have been busily preparing themselves for the new campaign.
Ravens have already hosted their own coaching course, a Halcyons Masters heritage game and enjoyed a positive start to senior field training.
A Level 2 Coaching course was held at Hopwood Park for the first time and ten newly-qualified Midlands coaches, eight of whom were Ravens, have all been invited to be part of the Midlands development programme.
They will be coaching juniors from aged three up to open age teams. The RFL tutors were extremely pleased with how the course ran and complemented Ravens on their suitability for future courses and other rugby league events.
Alongside the final weekend of the course, Hopwood Park hosted its annual heritage game featuring the long-awaited rebirth of the Halcyons shirt.
The NEW Ravens masters team, the Halcyons, hosted their second heritage game and the team was made up exclusively of Midlands-based players. Warrington Crossfield Masters helped to make the Ravens team up to numbers.
The 35-plus mixed contact version of rugby league allows all those retired from playing competitive rugby league to again grace the field in a safer and more sociable form of the sport. This year’s game saw several debuts from existing rugby league players, rugby union players and complete novices to the game.
Halcyons celebrated the unveiling and first run-out in 20 years of their original blue and red shirt. This will now become the team’s official colours, much to the emotional approval of the original Halcyons founder’s daughter Georgina Pickett.
She said: “It’s so nice to see the Halcyons shirt being played in again and so many original players filling them. My dad would be so proud to think the club was still going with a bright future.”
Halcyons have more home and away fixtures and tournaments scheduled for the rest of 2016. Please contact Andy Cave on 07946 384546 for more details.
Senior field training started last week and, following a month of fitness conditioning, Ravens started their field training ahead of their Challenge Mug Competition on Sunday, April 3 (1pm).
Ravens have a strong squad returning but are always looking for new players to add to the strength in depth of the club. They are seeking experienced rugby league players, rugby union players or anybody who thinks they have the drive and athleticism to play the sport.
First team coach Rich Whitehouse himself was a complete novice to rugby league when he started playing in his early 20s and he went on to play for England Lionhearts and Great Britain 7s.
Director of Rugby Jason Spafford said: “The Challenge Mug Competition is the best place to have a go at rugby league. Come down to training before or just turn up on the day and see if the sport is for you.”
This year’s competition will feature opposition including Leicester Storm, Telford Raiders and Derby City and an action-packed day is in prospect.
Senior training takes place every Wednesday at 7pm at Hopwood Park. For further details visit www.newravensrl.co.uk or the club’s Facebook page. Ravens begin their league campaign on Saturday, April 30.
