SUPPORT from a top trailer maker is helping a new generation of rugby players from North and Mid Wales reach for the stars.
Ifor Williams Trailers, who have factories in Denbighshire and Flintshire, have signed a two-year agreement to sponsor the academy teams at Rygbi Gogledd Cymru (RGC) which was set up to fast-track the region’s brightest rugby talents.
As a result, the kits of the male and female under-18 sides along with the under-16 team will be emblazoned with the firm’s distinctive logo.
After a period of pandemic paralysis, RGC is back in the cut and thrust of something approaching normality in the world of rugby competition and their base at Parc Eirias in Colwyn Bay is buzzing once more.
General manager Alun Pritchard said: “Our ambition as a development region is to grow the game of rugby in North Wales and to provide a platform for all ages, gender and ability to be involved in the game of rugby.
“Like everybody else we’ve been affected quite hard by Covid but we’ve employed new coaches and support staff for the under-18 and under-16 teams.
“We want to see the North Walian players have the best possible opportunities, so by bringing in a good standard of coach at those younger age groups, we can develop them as well as any other region.
“We’re also very much part of the wider community RGC which is why Ifor Williams Trailers is such a good fit because they too are also community-oriented.
“However, they’ve developed at a national and international scale so it’s a massive company based in North Wales.
“We’re a regional team but we’re trying to promote ourselves nationally through the Welsh Premiership and we’d like to kick on and have that international status as well.”
Richard Sullivan, a sales account manager with Ifor Williams Trailers, was back on familiar ground.
As a schoolboy, he was part of the RGC under-16 squad and still turns out regularly in the front row for his hometown of Ruthin.
He said: “I am proud that Ifor Williams Trailers are supporting the academy teams at RGC because this is where our future stars are going to come from.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here