Club Ambassador Festivals of Rugby League return for 2022!

Leeds Rhinos Foundation’s Ambassador Scheme will take centre stage this summer with the iconic Club Ambassador Festivals of Rugby League returning to Kirkstall across three different dates.

With more than a decade of success, the Club Ambassador Festivals are one of the highlights of the calendar for community clubs across Leeds and beyond, bringing together hundreds of junior players from across the city and its surrounding areas for a fantastic day of rugby league celebrating the very best of the community game.

After a prolonged absence of three years, the Ambassador Festivals will make their long-awaited return to the Batercard Leeds Rhinos Training Complex in Kirkstall this summer with three separate events taking place in 2022, including the first ever stand-alone Girls festival in August.

First up on Sunday 24th July will be the Dick Gibson Ambassador Festival with the Under 10s, 11s and 12s teams playing in the morning, before moving onto the Under 13s and 14s age groups in the afternoon.

Then comes the Naturally Best Club Ambassadors Festival sponsored by Charlie Bretts‘ on Sunday 21st August, which will be exclusively open to Girls teams from the Under 11s, 12s, 13s and 14s age groups.

And for the first time, there will also be an added Club Ambassadors Nines Festival held on Wednesday 24th August for Girls’ Under 16s teams in the evening.

The festivals will be once again supported by Leeds Rhinos, with players from both the Men’s and Women’s first team squads, many of whom represented community clubs in the city throughout their childhood years, coming along to sign autographs and present the players with their certificates and medals.

Long running sponsors Naturally Best will also continue their support for the festivals by extending their incredible offer of helping to feed the junior players for free across all three events.

Sam Horner, Community Club Development Officer for Leeds Rhinos Foundation said: “We’re absolutely delighted to be able to run our Club Ambassador Festivals again this summer after missing out the past couple of years due to the pandemic, and we can’t wait to see all the teams coming together for what is always a wonderful celebration of community rugby league”

“We know how much enjoyment the young players get out of competing at festivals like this and it’s a great reward for them over the summer to experience playing against teams from right across the local area at the Leeds Rhinos training complex.”

“This year we have our first ever stand-alone Girls Festival which is an area that has seen huge growth since we launched our Ambassador scheme and is testament to the incredible work of our Rugby League Development Officers over the past five or six years to help grow the Women & Girls game, leading to a record number of female players now involved with the sport in Leeds.”

“We would like to thank our good friends Charlie Brett’s and the Dick Gibson Family for their continued support in sponsoring the festivals, along with Naturally Best who always make an amazing gesture by agreeing to feed all the players taking part free of charge.

“It’s been a long time coming since our last Festivals back in 2019, but we can’t wait see all the teams and players coming out again this summer and representing their community clubs as we continue to build the legacy of our wonderful Club Ambassador scheme.”

MORE DETAILS:

Both weekend festivals will run from 10am to 4pm, whilst the evening Nines Festival will take place from 6pm to 9pm, with free entry for all spectators and parents.

In addition to all the rugby league action, there will be a host of fun activities for the whole family to enjoy including a bouncy castle, merchandise stalls, music, a charity raffle and food and drink provided by sponsors

For details of how to book your team’s place on the Club Ambassador Festivals, please contact helen.schofield@leedsrhinosfoundation.org.