Ironmen to run under 17 programme

After a week of exciting developments both on and off the field ahead of the 2017 season, the good news continues with confirmation that South Wales Ironmen will be running an under 17 programme during the 2017 season.

Dafydd Hellard, who has been playing professionally for the club, as well as coaching Valley Cougars, will be leading the programme, be part of the coaching team behind this new initiative, and believes that it will be filling a missing link in the player development pathway at the club.

He said: “We are looking at a relatively short programme running for ten weeks with three fixtures. It will be a full programme giving young players an insight into key areas such as nutrition and appropriate strength and conditioning as well as sessions on the field which will challenge and develop all those involved. The full weight of the coaching staff at the club will be behind the programme and we’ll be joined by some experienced coaches from the community game.

“The programme will be run alongside the community game and those involved will remain with their community clubs throughout. We will be in close contact with Wales Rugby League to ensure our programme does not impact in a negative way on the community game.

“On the contrary, we expect the programme to assist the community game retain players. As the programme is likely to feature players from across the South Wales region from east to west, we will be holding at least some of the sessions on the road to make sure they are accessible to everyone.

“Further information will follow once finalised. There will need to be some form of selection as we will have to limit the squad size to get the most out of the sessions but we will also look at holding some open access days which any player is welcome to attend.”