Here’s the first in a series of articles about our clubs who participate in Wales Rugby League’s community programme, primarily written by the clubs themselves.
Rhondda Outlaws, who play out of Glyncoch Sports and Social Club, were the 2019 Wales Rugby League men’s Premier League champions. They were also one of the first two sides to play an open-age women’s match in Wales.
The club was founded in 2015 by Leon Green and his son Cobi Green with two age grade sides. In 2017, they entered an open age side with the two age grades sides temporarily dropping away. They have now returned with abundance as chairman James Allen writes…
Within the last three years, we have seen our men’s side become Welsh champions and we’ve also restarted the development pathway by introducing U12s in 2019 and adding U14s for the 2020 season.
Late in the summer of 2019 we introduced a women’s side who played a two-match series against Cardiff Blue Dragons. Many of those players went on to represent East and West Origins and the Wales RL Women’s side who went on to beat England Lions in Wales’ first capped game.
Over our short history, players from all ages have gone on to play at Origin level, age-grade internationals, Dragonhearts and Wales Women, plus co-founder Cobi Green has gone on to play for the full Wales side in the World Cup 9s tournament.
However it’s the people behind the scenes who keep the club going that we want to recognise right now. During the off-season the volunteers that run the club are the real heroes, as without them we couldn’t make a safe environment for players, get sponsorship for kits or arrange fundraisers and presentations.
We have this summer moved to a permanent home in Glyncoch, and with a lot of hard work over the Christmas period, we’ve decorated with the supply of paint from Andy Reeves who is vital part of the volunteering team and a club sponsor.
David Albertelli is another vital part of the smooth running of the club. He was a player who has been injured for a long period so he came on board with the running of our Facebook page, and more recently has become an assistant coach and is head of physio and recovery. David also holds a few volunteer roles within Wales RL as well.
Other key members are Wayne Harrison and Corey Phillips who and coaches of the U12 and U14s respectively. They are helped by Ieuan Griffiths who is the Team manager. Wayne Harrison, David Albertelli and myself make up the coaching staff of both open age sides men and women whilst Jamie Langmead is team manager of the woman’s side.
We are all helped by the biggest cog in our engine Steven Bartlett who is the General manager of all sides. Steve has been the main sponsor of the Outlaws for many years. Steve has built the club constitution and the fundamentals to show the way that the club likes to conduct itself. There is nothing this guy can’t or won’t do for the both the club or any individual within the club.
Also, we can’t forget people like Gareth Kirle, Caroline Howard, Bryan Griffiths who on matchday are a massive help of the running of days and keep people safe. As chairman of the Rhondda Outlaws, I’m sure that I speak for everyone involved in the club to sat that I would like to thank all those I have and maybe haven’t mentioned for all the effort you put in as there would be no club without your time and dedication. Here is hoping everyone stays safe and that we manage to get some rugby league played this year and continue the growth of a club I’m proud to be a part of.
Our friend Clive Batchelor, a hard working volunteer who sadly lost his life a couple of years ago, would be immensely proud of how far we have come in such a short time.
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