WHEN Chris Ball took over as coach at Bank Quay Bulls under 17s, their fortunes could not have been much lower.
The team was struggling to win games and players were leaving the club.
Three years later and the Bulls were crowned North West Counties division one champions.
And on Friday night, Chris, aged 43, was named coach of the year at the Warrington Sports Personality Awards.
For the Orford man it was a fitting reward – not simply for him but the rest of the squad.
“I was coaching with Woolston and heard about Bank Quay so decided to get involved.
“We have so many willing lads there and it was just a matter of getting them together,” he added.
The club trains three times a week in the Dallam and Bewsey area and now has almost 30 players in the squad.
He said: “We have one of the lads in the north west squad and that was satisfying because he was close to hanging up his boots.
“But we will never turn anyone away, everyone plays and that is what is important.”
And Chris says the club is also determined to help out the community – as well as improve on the rugby field.
They raised £1,000 for cancer research last year and aim to match that by fundraising for the Warrington Afghanistan appeal this year.
And with all this success in the past three years, could Chris have predicted it?
“We aimed to make things better and at the first training session I could see there was potential. We just had to make them believe it.”
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