The clocks have changed, the leagues have started and all is right with the world. This whole off-season malarkey is not for me and it is great to be back in the swing of things at last.

March was a really good month for the club, breaking some more new ground and building on solid foundations to expand in a number of areas.

This year’s worst kept secret at the club is we are launching a Tots programme. More multi-sport than just rugby league, Rocket Tots means we can now engage two to six year olds. Two!

The idea of players leaving our juniors going into senior rugby having played league almost since they could walk is very exciting. I wish I could fast forward twenty years to see how it all turns out! Demand was extremely high and with the first session in a couple of weeks, I think it is something that will get bigger and bigger.

Talking about bigger and bigger, our Community team decided they wanted to put on a free tag rugby league festival for the local schools, simply to say thanks and give them a day out. We thought we’d make it a big deal and envisaged maybe 100 kids turning up.

As always with any good idea, word spread and it kept growing and growing until on the day we welcomed 432 children, making it the biggest tag rugby league festival Northumberland has ever seen! Coordinated chaos and smiley faces were present in abundance. Another great effort by the staff, one who described it as “one of the best moments of my career.”

As well as outdoor activity, we spend time in the classroom, teaching kids about healthy living or even helping with lessons and activities like reading. A new initiative for us has been introducing local students, typically studying sport science or coaching, to work alongside our coaches.

Connor Lye has been with us on a break from Leeds Beckett University and we have loved having him. We have actually known Connor for a long time as he joined the club as an U8 and has been enjoying a successful career ever since leaving us. Therefore the chance to have him back has been relished by all and he is another example of what can be achieved by getting kids playing from a young age.

Our self-imposed deadline for Magic Weekend ticket orders has come and gone. There are still tickets but with the East Stand pretty much full, especially on Saturday, it was to make sure we can get the tickets distributed. Our total at this moment is around the 560 mark, with a push still to come in our partner schools that could add another couple of hundred. Watch this space.

The end of the month saw the first week of pre-season for our adults, hosted by our new coaches, Evan Simons and Vincent Rennie of Newcastle Thunder fame. Both are very enthusiastic and with such a young squad with a lot of U21s, it could be an interesting season for the team once their influence starts to set in.

Other bits and pieces were more player and coach development programmes, trials for the North East Colleges squad, an U10 & U12 festival before the Thunder vs North Wales Crusaders match, and a return of our Rocket Camps, which were the biggest we have ever done by running over the two weeks of the Easter school break rather than just the one as we’ve done previously. I’ll report on how it went next month.

Looking ahead to April, we are in the process of getting everyone kitted out in our famous Orange t-shirts for Magic Weekend, this time with some snazzy orange visors. We are also promoting an abseil for the Teenage Cancer Trust, one of our partner charities. The abseil is taking place at the Great North Children’s Hospital, a facility we have supported numerous times in recent years.

And, of course, we have some actual rugby league to play! This is the first time we are running leagues at U12/14/16s, and with two teams at U10s, U14s and U16s, it’s a very busy. We love it.

Yours in sport

Jeff Ball
Chairman
Cramlington Rockets