Halifax based club, Siddal RLFC, are the latest community club to join the Leeds Rhinos Foundation Ambassador Club Scheme and their junior players recently enjoyed a day at Headingley Carnegie as player escorts for the Rhinos game against St Helens last week.
As the club are based in Halifax they currently are not linked or supported by any Super League club, so their players have been unable to experience the benefits of being affiliated with a top flight club, such as playing in the half time games or walking out with the teams ahead of kick off. After joining the Rhinos Ambassador Scheme their players were invited to be part of the community activity at the Super League fixture against St Helens, which their coach, Mark Hodgson, said was an unforgettable experience.
“My team and my club had a terrific evening with the Rhinos,” said Mark.
"It was a fantastic experience and one not to forget for some time. I am now looking forward to being part of the Ambassador Scheme and the benefits this will offer the club. I have already spoken to Sam Horner about the indoor touch rugby activities that are held through the winter which sounds really good. I find it hard to believe how well organized everything is with the Rhinos, it’s quite incredible as there is so much going on and things go so well, it really is very impressive, credit to everybody who is involved with the club.”
The Rhinos are also benefitting from the link with Sidall, thanks to the work of Leeds Rhinos Foundation’s U12s-14s Coach & Player Development Officer Steve Fox who organised for Sidall’s Under-14s to visit the Leeds Rugby Academy for two training sessions with our the Leeds Rhinos Under-16s coaching staff. In the upcoming months their Under-12s and 13s will also be attending a training session.
This new affiliation has led to five Siddal players from their Under-14s National Cup winning side joining the Leeds Rhinos Under-16s squad. These players are Thomas Holroyd (prop),Brody Graham (Centre), Liam Whitton(Full Back), Harry Georgiou (Prop) and Will Scrimshaw (Half Back), and they will all begin training with the club next week.
If you would like more information on the Club Ambassador scheme contact sam.horner@leedsrugbyfoundation.org