Turn your back at your peril

[widdenoldboy]

Meanwhile my son having moved to Swindon for his job now plays for Swindon St. George RL club and by all accounts the club is thriving.

They play against teams such as the Bristol Sonics, Bath & Wiltshire Romans, Cheltenham Phoenix, Southampton Spitfires, Somerset Vikings and Portsmouth Navy Seahawk all of which are part of South West Rugby League (and the last one of which sounds bloody scary to me).

I am pretty sure all of these teams are far newer than a club like Preston.

I am also not saying we can be complacent but RL has expanded as well.

Good to hear, Swindon St George are a great bunch of lads and going places. Other teams in that league are Gloucestershire Warriors, Forest Bulldogs, Oxford Cavaliers and a new team in Reading. My son plays for Cheltenham.

[Caboosegg]

Sadly, the RFL lost the Gov funding to grass route league a couple of years ago (2012) as they where not doing enough to promote or sustain it.

[widdenoldboy]

Sadly, the RFL lost the Gov funding to grass route league a couple of years ago (2012) as they where not doing enough to promote or sustain it.

I didn't know RFL had lost funding but can believe they weren't doing enough - the next league up from West of England, the Conference League South, has folded because of lack of support from central funding.

[Caboosegg]

Sadly, the RFL lost the Gov funding to grass route league a couple of years ago (2012) as they where not doing enough to promote or sustain it.

I didn't know RFL had lost funding but can believe they weren't doing enough - the next league up from West of England, the Conference League South, has folded because of lack of support from central funding.

just doubled checked and found this:

[u]http://www.totalrl.com/rugby-league- ... nding/[/u]

Rugby League is one of four sports, along with swimming, gymnastics and equestrianism, to be hit by the £1.53 million funding reduction – but Sport England says that the money will now go towards other projects in those same sports rather than going directly to governing bodies like the RFL.

The game suffered a funding cut back in 2011 of almost £1million – again for failing to meet the participation targets set. However, there will still be funds inputted into making the game more accessible.

Sport England cut funding to rugby league by as much as £10.1 million to £17.5 million in the last four-year cycle that was announced back in 2012 but, whilst the RFL’s funding has been cut again, money will still be going towards making rugby league more accessible.

“After failing to meet targets agreed between them and Sport England in 2013/14, £1.53 million has been removed from four governing bodies,” it stated.

“Every penny of the money, a mixture of National Lottery and government funding intended to get more people playing sport, will be reinvested in alternative projects to explore new ways of producing better results in those sports.

“The decisions were taken by Sport England’s board following a detailed analysis of results in the latest Active People Survey, which is the contractual measure agreed with governing bodies to judge.”[/url]

[widdenoldboy]

Sadly, the RFL lost the Gov funding to grass route league a couple of years ago (2012) as they where not doing enough to promote or sustain it.

I didn't know RFL had lost funding but can believe they weren't doing enough - the next league up from West of England, the Conference League South, has folded because of lack of support from central funding.

just doubled checked and found this:

[u]http://www.totalrl.com/rugby-league- ... nding/[/u]

Rugby League is one of four sports, along with swimming, gymnastics and equestrianism, to be hit by the £1.53 million funding reduction – but Sport England says that the money will now go towards other projects in those same sports rather than going directly to governing bodies like the RFL.

The game suffered a funding cut back in 2011 of almost £1million – again for failing to meet the participation targets set. However, there will still be funds inputted into making the game more accessible.

Sport England cut funding to rugby league by as much as £10.1 million to £17.5 million in the last four-year cycle that was announced back in 2012 but, whilst the RFL’s funding has been cut again, money will still be going towards making rugby league more accessible.

“After failing to meet targets agreed between them and Sport England in 2013/14, £1.53 million has been removed from four governing bodies,” it stated.

“Every penny of the money, a mixture of National Lottery and government funding intended to get more people playing sport, will be reinvested in alternative projects to explore new ways of producing better results in those sports.

“The decisions were taken by Sport England’s board following a detailed analysis of results in the latest Active People Survey, which is the contractual measure agreed with governing bodies to judge.”[/url]

Thanks for the links and info - participation in West is on the up slightly. I'm taking on Secretary role for Gloucestershire Warriors RL, based in city of Gloucester which is RU mad so lots of rugby talent here.