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Lions jointly host ground-breaking initiative!

26 April 2023

Swinton Lions Foundation and Manchester Rugby Coaching Partnership join forces

Yesterday Swinton Lions Foundation and Manchester Rugby Coaching proudly joint-hosted the Manchester Schools 9-a-side Rugby League Tournament at Wright Robinson Sports College in Gorton.

An incredible 90 players from 5 schools at year 9 level were represented in what was the first event of its kind facilitated by our new community partnership.

The event was played out on a round-robin basis, and then a Grand Final was contested between the top two ranking schools, Wright Robinson and Hollingworth. The hosts were the proud winners of the tournament, and were presented with the cup by Wigan Warriors and England player Vicky Molyneux.

The event was also attended by the RFL’s Jonathan Dowler who was greatly impressed by the talent and skills on show.

Damian Ridpath of the Lions’ Foundation said, “This event was excellent and a great piece of collaborative work between Manchester Rugby Coaching and the Lions Foundation. Chris Honor organised all the matches and co-ordinated the volunteer referees superbly, whilst I was able to speak to all the teams and teachers separately about our vision for developing all types of Rugby League within Greater Manchester in the future, and how we can support with developing schools and tournaments in the sport.

All the players were given free season tickets for the Lions as well as an open invitation to our Lions Development Programme which begins this week for players aged from 11 to 18. This was the first partnership tournament, but we have several more booked in for various age groups before the end of 2023. If your school is interested in participating please contact either [email protected] or [email protected]

On behalf of Manchester Rugby Coaching, Chris Honor added, “A great afternoon of Rugby League was enjoyed by all our participants and the games were played in a very respectful manner by all players who represented their schools superbly. It was great to have Damian and Jonny down to add tremendous value to the rugby league opportunities being offered to schools across Manchester through this type of event.”

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