Right at the centre of community life (From Warrington Guardian)

Right at the centre of community life

WARRINGTON Wolves Rugby League Club is not just about playing sport. It is a club very much centred on the community, and as a result, it has been awarded the prestigious

Sport Industry Award, Best Sport in the Community Programme for 2004 as well as consistently scooping the Outstanding Community Programme in Super League for 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003. It has also secured an impressive five Sportsmatch Awards.

The club works in partnership with Warrington Borough Council and Wolves players and popular mascot Wolfie to promote projects from anti-bullying to healthier living.

Central to the Wolves programme is the delivery of coaching to all of the town's 73 primary schools (Primary Link programme sponsored by Scottish Power and Sportsmatch) and 12 secondary schools along with five special needs schools.

Although Sportsmatch funding for Primary Link ceased, it is a measure of the project's success that the company have pledged to continue their support.

To continue its coaching coverage in Warrington primary schools, Outreach has been developed in conjunction with Philip Williams Insurance Management and Sportsmatch, which allows maximum impact of Wolves coaching in areas of the town with no existing culture of rugby league participation. New clubs and junior sections have been formed as a result of this and are flourishing.

These links with primary schools and amateur clubs in the town are crucial in encouraging children to continue participating in rugby league throughout their adult lives. Club coaching is continuously monitored and selfimprovement opportunities for coaches are provided by the Wolves Ed Programme.

The Wolves Scholarship provides talented players with quality coaching and development pathways. The impact of this has seen the current boom in Warrington junior rugby league. Eight junior clubs now run a total of 48 junior teams with the result that 800 youngsters now take part in organised club rugby league.

The Warrington Primary Schools Inter- Schools competition has grown from 10 schools to more than 24 since its inception in 1999. The Wolves' own prematch 7's competition attracted a record entry of over 30 schools in 2004 and in the local stages of the Powergen

Champion Schools, 10 out of 12 secondary schools were represented. The club is also committed to providing equality in sport and the Active Community's Multi-Sport 'Girl Power' programme, devised by Great Britain international Jane Banks, is designed to

address the problem of teenage female's non-participation in sport. This has borne

fruit with the formation of a town team for girls and the open age Warrington Ladies.

The club has also been instrumental within primary schools in coaching Tag Rugby and organising Tag Festivals. These festivals are held at the amateur clubs and all pupils who have received coaching and who have participated in festivals are presented with certificates. It is hoped that a second Mayor's Tag Festival on Warrington Town Hall's lawn will again be held this year.

The obvious need for improved community learning facilities formed a large part of the Wolves case for its new Halliwell Jones Stadium - and the club is already proving its commitment to that cause and the community as a whole.

Next month, Warrington Wolves will be heading into unknown territory with the completion of its unique North West Development Agency-funded Community Floor.

Sean Mellor, Wolves community and marketing manager, said: "This is such an exciting project for us here at Wolves. It really is a first. Nothing of its kind appears in any other stadium in the country. It will cater for all ages and all community groups such as schools, Learn Direct and Sport Warrington. Our own Playing for Success scheme will also be relocated there."

The floor consists of seven classrooms which are purpose-built to the requirements of the community partners but an official opening date has yet to be announced.

Playing for Success is designed to give children a stimulating learning experience far removed from the standard classroom and will be based on the Community Floor from March.

The Wolves Attendance Project shares the same aim as Playing for Success and is also aimed at schoolchildren. It bids to improve the attendance records of pupils by raising their self-esteem. Wilderschool, the original community project, combined a rugby league themed learning experience with games and a stadium tour at Wilderspool and provided

hundreds of primary school children with their first visit to the home of the Wolves. The club hopes that these will re-commence at the Halliwell Jones Stadium in the near future.

Wolfie, the club's mascot, and the players are all involved in assembly programmes delivering healthy living, lifestyle, electrical safety and anti-bullying messages. Wolfie also recently teamed up with the NHS Health Improvement Directorate to raise awareness of burn prevention and treatment in the 'Ouch - That's Hot!' campaign which was delivered to Warrington schoolchildren. He has also been extolling the virtues of

healthy eating and been involved in a drive to recruit Lollipop personnel. Another community project featured Kiwi legend and former Warrington Wolves player Kevin Tamati, who was instrumental in the delivery of a school 'Haka Project' last year which

resulted in the peformance of a Warrington Haka by 170 local children prior to the Wolves versus New Zealand 'A' game in 2003.

This range of activities has led to the Wolves being known as a community club and engendering a sense of belonging and loyalty. Attendances at the Halliwell Jones Stadium are now considerably higher than before the Community programme.

Warrington Wolves are committed to coaching, education, development and social inclusion, and it's one of the big reasons that for many in the Warrington Wolves Community - the Wolves are more than a rugby league club!