THE WINNINGTON PARK COLUMN – by Dave Allcock

WINNINGTON Park have appointed Steve Berg as director of ladies and girls’ rugby.

Steve – a long-standing member of the club – has taken up the post immediately and is already putting plans in place to develop the women’s and girls’ section.

With the return to rugby permitted from Monday, he will be meeting with players, coaches and parents of our girls’ teams to discuss how we can improve and meet our aim to be the best community club in the county for ladies and girls rugby.

Steve knows the club well having played for our men’s teams, coached our junior teams from the under 6s to the under 18s and more recently, he helped coach our ladies’ team along with the current coaches.

Steve has a strong track record of developing players and teams at the club and is committed to continue this with our ladies’ section.

Female participation in rugby is growing rapidly and we want to provide all those that wish to do so the opportunity to play the game.

It was Steve’s experience of coaching the ladies that prompted his application for this post.

“Having seen the enthusiasm and commitment of the ladies, I believe we have a real opportunity to create something special in our ladies and girls’ section,” he said.

“The club has a well-established ladies team playing in the Women’s National Championship NC 2 (West) and girls’ teams at under 13,15 and 18 age ranges.

“The long-term plans are that our junior girls’ teams will provide a steady stream of talented players able to join our ladies team, and we have some outstanding talent in our junior girls’ teams.

“I want to be able to help with this”.

Steve has the full backing of the club committee, who believe that Steve is the ideal appointment.

It is recognised that this is a key role and Steve will receive all the support he needs to make a success of this role.

“The ladies are really valued at the club and are now an established part of Winnington Park,” club president Brian Concannon said.

“We want our ladies and girls’ teams continue to develop and progress with equal access to the facilities, equipment and coaching support like we provide for our male teams.”

Steve has been busy looking at plans to improve already, with communications with local schools planned to hopefully agree in-school sessions, a tournament and a recruitment campaign to increase playing numbers.

Steve has also made contact with the RFU to see what additional support they can offer to assist in improving our offer for women’s rugby.

The aim at Winnington Park is to be the best ladies and girls’ section across any community club in the county and the club realises that this is no easy task.

However, this is the club’s commitment and we will do everything we can to support Steve to achieve this.

If you are interested in giving rugby a try, contact us via our website at wprfc.com. Alternatively, contact Steve Berg on 07970822901 or Dave Allcock on 07793248310.