Cardiff Blues stars Rhys Thomas and Craig Morgan continued the good work in the community when they presented awards in the Cynon Valley Primary Schools League Finals on Monday in The Ynys in Aberdare RFC.
Rob Sidoli and Tristan Davies will also be visiting Mountain Ash RFC this Wednesday to present the awards at the Mountain Ash Primary Schools League Finals. Both events have been organised by Dale McIntosh who is employed by Crownford as a Blues Development Officer for the Cynon Valley.
Crownford have grown to become one of the largest training and consultancy firms in the UK and through their partnership with the Future Blues, the development arm of the Cardiff Blues many youngsters in the area have benefited enormously from being coached by players such as Dale McIntosh and Craig Quinnell who visited Aberdare RFC last month. The Future Blues development scheme was launched in November and replaced the old Capital Rugby scheme that had been running since 1998.
With the growth of the Cardiff Blues, the new Future Blues scheme encompasses Cardiff, Vale of Glamorgan, South Powys, Rhondda Cynon Taff and Merthyr Tydfil local authorities that make up the Cardiff Blues region. Since the expansion of the region the Future Blues have worked tirelessly throughout the region developing young players and giving opportunities to youngsters to be coached by international players as well as having the opportunity to play at the Arms Park.
Tom Shanklin and Gareth Williams will also be starting the McMillan Cancer Charity Walk on Saturday the 29th of April at Hirwaun RFC. The ten mile walk which is supported by South Wales Police is expected to attract a large crowd and later in the day the Corwnford District 7s tournament will take place at Rhigos Rugby Club.
Crownfords development work was strengthened when we worked in partnership with the Blues and WRU. We are delighted to be supporting events such as the 7s tournament and the McMillan Charity walk. Obviously Dale McIntosh is a true valleys hero and rugby icon to many of the youngsters in the area and without his hard work, many future players would not benefit from being involved in such a structured development programme Commented Brad Williams Managing Director at Crownford.