RUGBY league is booming once more in Ulverston after a successful drive to bring more children into the sport.

The last 16 months have seen an influx of youngsters to Priory Road as Ulverston RL’s youth section has been rejuvenated.

A club, who two years ago had only an under-16s team in operation, now have more than 45 energetic children tearing around the field every week at training sessions.

Under the guidance of coaches Brian Benson and Dennis Porter – helped by first-team players, parents and club officials – sides have been set up at under-sixes, under-eights and under-10s levels, with an under-12s team next on the horizon.

The resurgence in interest among kids in the newly-renamed Ulverston Wolverines set-up has delighted Benson, who previously coached his own son through the youth ranks before taking a break from the club four years ago.

He has been thrilled to see so many young players come on board – both beginners and those with some experience of the game – and said: “The club had been dormant and the line of players coming through had stopped.

“Dennis tried to get things started and I spoke with my father-in-law, Dennis Akister, who is the president, and we started it again.

“The first night we started off, there were the coaches and four kids. Now there are more than 40 kids and we’ve got four new coaches as well – we’ve built it up over that year.”

He added: “Rugby always does well and it has just needed a bit of a kick up the backside just to push it.

“We started getting a few kids in and they bring their mates. It’s a new start.”

The programme at Ulverston has seen the club stretch out in new directions towards younger players.

They are looking to build on the foundations in place by starting to recruit older players, as well as retaining those already involved as they progress through the ranks.

“We’ve got the under-sixes, which the club have never had before,” said Benson. It brings the kids in and it’s good to have.

“We have under-eights, who have been playing all season and we have under-10s, though there weren’t enough of them at the start of the season to register a team and we’ve had to wait. It’s the start of the new season coming up and we’ll have an under-eights and an under-10s team and we’ll start to work on the under-12s.

“You couldn’t start off at under-12s or under-14s, because you wouldn’t get the kids. If they’re going to play rugby at that age, they are already doing it somewhere.

“That’s why we started right at the beginning and the under-eights have really taken off. We’ve got parents there going through the coaching badges as well.

“The parents have been really good with the work they have put in behind the scenes – they deserve a big thank you.”

He added: “It will take a couple of years to get up to the full squad for the full age-range, but we will get there.

“We will bring an extra group up every year and once you have a team, they move up every year or two. We’re looking to get back to the full complement like it used to be, when we had about 100 kids.”

Ulverston have been helped out by sponsors for the new under-eights kit, with DEL kitchens and bathrooms, Nigel Atkinson Snap-On Tools, Keith Edwards Motors and former club player Alistair McGregor all contributing towards its purchase.

Weekly coaching sessions take place at Ulverston RL’s Priory Road home – beside the Ulverston Leisure Centre artificial pitch – on Fridays between 6pm and 7pm. Anyone interested in attending sessions – open to players from under-sixes up to under-16s – can simply turn up or contact Brian Benson on 07970 728989 or email bri.benson@orange.net for more information.