SUPER League giants Wigan Warriors provided an action-packed day for young RL players at Millom Recreation Centre.

The 2016 Grand Final winners brought a host of coaches for a day focused on children from five to 15 learning the basics of the game in the morning session and advancing to games in the afternoon.

All the children, most of whom play for Millom RLFC, took part in various activities which covered all the aspects of the game – from catching to passing, and defence to attack.

The warm-up included all 23 children taking part in various exercises without the ball and some competitive relay races across the hall before they were split into two age groups. Both groups then took part in a passing drill which allowed them to work on and develop how they catch and pass a rugby ball. There was a competitive element to it as if they dropped the ball then they were eliminated.

This allowed the coaches to interact with the children and help them become better all round players by showing them different skills.

After this, the older group developed what they had learnt about passing along a line while the younger group worked on running with the ball in hand. The older group were given different challenges which kept the action fun and exciting while the younger players learnt how to grip and hold the ball correctly with two hands before taking part in races which tested what they had done so far.

Dearan Crawford, who has only recently started playing the game for Millom under-14s, said: “It has been hard work. We have had to do some fitness which was quite tiring but at the same time was fun and we then worked on our passing which was also fun.”

Dylan Sweeney, who also plays for Millom under-14s and is a Wigan Warriors supporter himself also said “how tiring the day had been” but added that it had been “fun and enjoyable”. When asked about his favourite player his response was, “John Bateman. There’s no question about it!”

Both Dylan and Dearan hope that one day they can follow in the footsteps of current Wigan players such as Liam Farrell and Sean O’Loughlin and make it to the Super League.

A much younger participant in the coaching day was Oliver Thompson, who currently plays for Millom under-8s.

Oliver – who also supports Wigan, with his favourite player being Sam Tomkins – said: “I enjoy the competition with the older ages. I have enjoyed the day.”

All the children showed great enthusiasm and respect towards their coaches and activities, and that was something that coaches Tom Schmechel and Joel Smith picked up on.

They said it was “great to see so many children wearing Wigan shirts” and when asked about what they think rugby teaches you they said: “It teaches you good life skills like respect and discipline but also allows for you to make new friends.”

In the afternoon the youngsters finally got their chance to show what they could do with the ball in hand as they took part in some very competitive mini games.

The children demonstrated the skills which they had picked up throughout the day.

They also did some wrestling, which allowed them to work on their tackling and how they manage to turn the ball carrier on to their back in a tackle.

This allowed both groups to develop new skills which they can take back to their clubs and use in upcoming matches.

The final part of the day saw participants take part in a try-scoring challenge.

They had to see who could produce the best finish possible by diving in the air and touching the ball down on a mat for a try, some of which even Wigan winger Joe Burgess would be proud of!

Overall, the day was a huge success with all 23 children thoroughly enjoying it from start to finish.

They learned aspects of the game that they might have not known before and picked up new skills, which might – one day – see them playing for Wigan first team.