The Dewsbury Rams Community Development Programme underwent a major overhaul in 2005 and the quality of the Programme improved dramatically as a result.
In the 2005/06 school year it was delivered to 39 Junior and Infant schools in the Dewsbury area and over 1500 children participated in the five week programme. The Programme itself follows the model of Long Term Athlete Development, the principle of which is that, at an early age, children do not concentrate solely on a specific sport but learn to train to become better athletes. The fundamental skills development is sport, Rugby League being the core skill and this is when areas such as team spirit, fair play, anti-racism and anti-bullying are included.
The Rams Community Development Programme runs in five-week blocks, the fifth session being the inter-school tag festival. All schools that participate in the programme are given the opportunity to play at half time during the Dewsbury Rams First Team home fixtures. Children, teachers and parents are all made welcome with complimentary entry.
The highlight of the Programme has to be the Rams Summer Fun Festival. The 2006 and 2007 festivals were a huge success with over 550 children attending as well as parents, teachers and club sponsors. In addition to the coaching sessions that took place with the infant schools and the tag tournament for the junior aged children, the children also participated in many 'off the field' activities. These included a stadium tour, interactive safety demonstrations with the Fire and Police Community Safety Departments, as well as activities organised by colleagues from the Rugby Football League and the Playing for Success campaign.
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