Players from the Newport Gwent Dragons squad will be visiting Lewis Girls School in Ystrad Mynach, Pontypool Park and Hartridge Comprehensive on Friday to deliver TAG rugby masterclasses to local school children.
At Lewis Girls School more than 150 pupils are expected to attend from each of the nine feeder primary schools in the area. Pupils from Llancaeach, Ystrad Mynach, Greenhill, Glyngaer, Hengoed, Derwendeg, Maesycwmmer, Tir y Berth and Coed-y-Brain will be attending in order to improve their rugby skills.
Community coaches from across the county borough, along with Caerphilly council’s Rugby Development Officer James Chapron, will be assisting the Dragons with their coaching.
While at Pontypool Park and Hartridge over 100 primary school pupils will be attending as they are put through their paces by the WRU Development Officers and The Dragons squad.
The pupils will develop their skills by taking part in fun and interesting TAG rugby activities. At the same time, in the comprehensive schools, some of the Dragons will take part in a question and answer session.
The event in Caerphilly will be linking in with the ‘5x60’ secondary school sport scheme and The Dragons will also be promoting TAG rugby as a means to becoming physically active.
Gareth Baber from The Dragons commented, “The boys really enjoy these types of events. Days like these help to create a greater interest in rugby and in the Dragons. Its fantastic for the game in Gwent.”
CCBC Sports Development Manager, David Phenis said, “The Dragons players coming out to the schools really shows their shift in focus to the wider community. Having The Dragons promoting extra-curricular sport will raise the profile of the scheme and hopefully encourage more youngsters to participate in sport and become physically active. The 5x60 initiative is new in the area and The Dragons have played a vital role in raising the awareness of this scheme.“
Players from the Dragons will be visiting Heolddu Comprehensive, Llantarnam and Bettws for more sessions in the near future as they look to promote the game of rugby in their region.
