Warrington Wolves in the Community

By Chris Lord
April 27 2005

The Excellence of Warrington Wolves award winning community action has been recognised both locally and nationally.

Warrington Wolves have held the prestigious Super League award for the Outstanding Community Programme for the past three years.

Much of the Wolves Programme revolves around the delivery of coaching to all of the town's 75 Primary Schools (Primary Link Programme sponsored by Scottish Power and Sportsmatch) and 12 Secondary Schools (Try Hard Programme sponsored by Oakmere and Sportsmatch), along with 5 local special schools. Links have been forged between Amateur Clubs and clusters of local schools and barriers have been broken down within a number of football and rugby union dominated areas.

The Wolves Community Programme has continued to build on its solid foundations and work in partnership with Warrington Borough council to fulfil its Community pledges. High profile companies such as the Cheshire Building Society and Coca-Cola have been recently attracted to the club. The Wolves have now, secured an impressive 4 Sportsmatch Awards.

The result of this activity has been the current boom in Warrington junior Rugby League. The Wolves and pre-match Primary School 7's competitions sponsored by Coca-Cola, attracted a record entry of 32 schools and 800 junior players are affiliated to the towns 8 Amateur Clubs.

Club coaching standards are constantly monitored and self-improvement opportunities for coaches are provided by the Wolves Ed Programme, sponsored by JLJ Holdings and Sportsmatch.

The Wolves Scholarship provides talented players with quality coaching and' development pathways. It has received a huge endorsement as 12 Wolves Scholarship players were selected for National Camp - a larger number than any other Super League Club.

In demonstration of the Club's commitment to equality, the Wolves have launched an innovative scheme entitled 'Scottish Power Sportsmatch Girls Play League', designed to address the problem of teenage female non-participation in sport.

The Wolves community initiatives are not purely centred around playing Rugby League. The Playing For Success Centre, sponsored by Ikea and the Cheshire Building Society, is designed to provide children with a unique and stimulating learning experience in an environment far removed from a standard classroom, while the Wolves Attendance Project, sponsored by BNFL, shares the same base and is specifically aimed at improving the attendance records of pupils by raising their self-esteem.