The first half of visits for the 2012/13 Adopt a Player scheme took place in November and proved a great success

The Adopt a Player scheme has gone from strength to strength since being launched in 2005 and on Wednesday 21 November, 17 of the Cardiff Blues squad visited clubs around the region.

The scheme sees every rugby club within the region being allocated a player who will be able to visit the club throughout the season to attend a training session, presentation evening or other club events. Each Club will have access to their player on two occasions throughout the season.

Dan Fish visited Old Illtudians RFC in Cardiff and was impressed with what he saw at the club. Speaking of the visit Dan said,

“It was great to be involved with the youngsters at Old Illtudians.

“All the clubs around the region play their part in developing the next generation of Blues player and the youngsters had so much enthusiasm for rugby, which was great to see.

“They made me feel really welcome so I’m already looking forward to my next visit.”

As you can see from the comments below the player appearances were popular at all the clubs visited:

The visit from Josh Navidi went very well. The children recognized him from the Blues and the Wanderers. He got involved with the training straight-away which the children loved.
Delia Weyman, Glamorgan Wanderers

Toms James’ visit was a huge success for all the age groups. He joined in straight away with the age groups and did whatever he could to help out. I coach our under 7’s and 8’s team and we play tag bulldogs to warm up he came in introduced himself got a belt and tags and spent the next 20 minutes running round and having fun with the boys – they loved him. I think it’s safe to say he has gained 30 new fans from the under 7’s and 8’s squad.
David Brown, Dowlais RFC

It went really well with Andi Kyriacou. The lads really enjoyed training with him and are hoping he will come back. Thank you very much for organizing the visit. We are a very small club, whose U15’s haven’t won a game all season, or last season so it was a real boost to their confidence.
Cathie Evans, Crickhowell Warriors

The children really enjoyed Macauley Cook’s visit. Nothing was too much trouble for him. He’s a wonderful ambassador for the Blues.
Kath Razey, Tylorstown RFC

For further information on the scheme please email georgina.hughes@cardiffblues.com or by call 02920 302016.