Summer rugby, having a blast. It was a big month for the club on a number of fronts best summed up by debuts, documentaries and donations and, with stretched alliteration, deserved winners.

The U16s Cup was a rerun of the 2015 Cup Final against Jarrow Vikings, the only match this group of players have lost in the North East in four years. Talk of nerves and retribution floated around the build-up and due to faltering form despite an unbeaten season so far, our lads went into the game as underdogs.

We had the best possible start. Two tries in the first two sets created a gap that did not close until the final whistle and, despite Jarrow getting within a score, we managed to stretch away and win the game 30-18 that was a very special moment for everyone involved.

In the North East this season there are eight pieces of silverware up for grabs for all ages and at the time of writing we are still in the running for seven of them – the only one we are not is the U12s Plate, and that is because we are in the U12s Cup instead. So it could be another profitable year on the field.

It was a very special occasion and I am pleased to say we commissioned a documentary about their journey to the final, which you can watch by clicking here. It is a great watch, even if you do not know those involved and one that has elicited a few manly tears from the coaching staff.

The documentary was produced by MC-Media, a Northumberland-based video production company that we have entered into a new partnership with. This is a big step for the club and I do not know of any other amateur rugby league club in the UK who have done anything like this and we will be releasing our next video in the coming months. We have a number of other partnerships to reveal too so watch this space.

Two of our own will be making their debuts for Great Britain Pioneers on their tour of Hungary. Lewis Davey and Martyn Steel started out with us many years ago now and are enjoying successful careers both at university and in Lewis’ case, on the books of Keighley Cougars. Seeing our players earn representative honours is becoming an increasing trend and we are really pleased for them. We are trying to raise £500 to help towards travel costs. Any help would be appreciated.

Speaking of donations, we were thrilled to receive a grant from Sport Newcastle. The work of Rockets Community continues to grow and grow across the county - with 28 partner schools and growing - and the grant will help us continue to increase participation at a grassroots level.

The other debuts in June were our U8s. Having launched in February, player numbers are already past the 20 mark and their first chance to play was in a festival before a Newcastle Thunder match. They all really loved it and got to be mascots with the Toulouse team for good measure. According to the mums and dads, they were still talking about it a week later. Not a bad way to start your rugby league career.

On the pitch, all other age groups have been in action. The Thunder Summer 9s being one particular highlight for the juniors as we push our way through the regular season towards the play offs with it all to play for. There are success stories littered across all age groups, more so than I can share! We have also enjoyed a number of fixtures against opposition from outside the area, something that has been a great experience from a playing and team morale point of view, which I will be talking about in more depth later this month.

For the adults too, a good season is emerging. Spirit is high and a tough win away to Jarrow with 14 men to go top of the league left the whole club buzzing with excitement. Excitingly, the average age of the squad that day was 20 years old and 12 of the 14 came through our youth system, yet another endorsement of our methods.

Coming up in July, Rocket Camps are back for 5-16 year olds in Cramlington and Alnwick. We have an exciting new venue for Alnwick and we are expecting another high turnout before everyone disappears for their holidays. We also have our late summer ones, which will be held just before the schools go back, with more details to follow.

We will also soon be announcing Rocket Tots for the summer holidays. Originally the plan was for term time only but demand has made us think again. We have already doubled Tots since launching it in April and now have spaces for 60 Tots, something that meant we had to take on Lewis Davey as another coach!

All good fun. From here though, it is the business end of the junior season and this weekend will decide the fates of a many a team. All involved have worked really hard this year and it would be nice to have a big Rockets contingent at next week’s Finals weekend. Watch this space.

Onwards and upwards

Jeff

Jeff Ball
Chairman
Cramlington Rockets