Powerday - Official London Irish Sponsor
Local Projects in Spelthorne
Next Previous

Local Projects in Spelthorne

As our spiritual home is still very much in Sunbury getting out and about in the Spelthorne area is very important.

<6r>Community Coach Jack Heald looks after the area and will be regularly delivering coaching sessions to local schools throughout the 2009-10 academic year.

He is also working with the London Irish Amateurs this season.


Spelthorne Borough Council


We are delighted to be working in partnership with Spelthorne Borough Council supporting them where we can. To kick off the partnership Jack will be hosting two special Tag Rugby sessions on Saturday 25th July in conjunction with the Spelthorne Cultural Olympiad day.


Holiday MasterClass at Sunbury


<1r>The Community Team hosted a three day event at the London Irish training ground in Sunbury-on-Thames from Monday 27th to Wednesday 28th July. A total of 75 participants aged 8-15 took part to develop their skills and to learn to be their best at rugby!

It was a fun-filled few days that was made possible by three of our enthusiastic community coaches; Dave Williams, Jack Heald and Ben Lee, along with some additional help from RFU Community Rugby Coaches and RFU regional academy coaches. The Holiday MasterClass was deemed a huge success by all!

Morning and afternoon sessions consisted of going through various rugby skills from all areas of the game, including fantastic tips to improve a player’s handling, tackling, defence, collision skills, decision making, game sense, positional play and support play! All players had a chance to show off their newly-learned skills in fun style rugby games and competitions, and prizes were awarded at the end of each day for ‘Player of the Day’, and on the Wednesday, ‘Player of the Camp’.

<3>Not only did all participants receive great advice from our talented Community Coaches, but they also received a visit from London Irish first team player Kieran Roche! Other London Irish star players who popped in for rehabilitation were also seen at the home ground, much to the excitement of the MasterClass youngsters. The London Irish Academy Manager, Neal Hartley, and Assistant Academy Manager, Justin Bishop, also saw the youngsters in action and were impressed with the high standard of rugby being produced by all the players.

Everyone was excited to receive their free T-shirt as well as a free matchday ticket to watch London Irish live at the Madejski Stadium on September 13th against Gloucester (which will also be our special Family Fun Day). On the final day, everyone was thrilled to take part in Jack Heald’s London Irish quiz, which tested how much the kids really know about our Club!

Commenting on the Sunbury MasterClass, Community Coach Dave Williams said “The past three days have been brilliant. Everyone has put in 100% and both myself and all the coaches have really enjoyed our first MasterClass of the summer. I look forward to seeing more active, enthusiastic players at the rest our camps during the summer.”


*All photos courtesy of Pinnacle Photography Ltd.


London Irish Amateurs receive Scrummaging MasterClass

<4r>Almost 50 young rugby players turned out at the London Irish training ground in Sunbury on Thursday 17 September to learn the art of scrummaging from London Irish prop and former All Black, Clarke Dermody.

The youngsters all play for the London Irish Amateur club in the U10 and U11 age groups. Several amateur club coaches also turned out to learn the intricacies of scrummaging from one of the leading props in the Guinness Premiership. Dermody was also assisted by AASE (Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence) Student and England U18 hooker, Pete Austin.

Those taking part in the session got to learn about the major components of the scrummage as well as specific techniques and safety aspects.

<5>Jack Heald, the London Irish Community Coach for Spelthorne commented: “It was good to see so many players at this session and to see them learning what the scrum is all about. It is important that they are taught the right techniques early on and Clarke and Pete were fantastic tutors.

“It was also really promising to see so many coaches in attendance which shows real commitment to the teams within the London Irish Amateurs.”

Jack Heald conducts regular coaching sessions at a number of schools in the Spelthorne area, including Thamesmead, St Paul’s, Chennestone, Matthew Arnold, Thomas Knyvett, Town Farm and Sunbury Manor. Schools wishing to get more information should contact Jack at jack.heald@london-irish.com