Last month Coventry Bears were formally launched as a professional Rugby League club in front of gathered media at the Butts Park Arena in what proves to be a huge step in the clubs development. The step is part of a new partnership with Coventry Rugby to take the Rugby League club into the professional game in 2015.
This was not only a huge achievement for the club, but for Rugby League in the Midlands because the Coventry side has become the flagship for the Professional game in their region. The Bears have also brought to an end the North-South divide which overshadowed the sport for many years.
Coventry’s Managing Director Alan Robinson was the man who brought Rugby League to the city back in 1998.
Commenting on the achievement, Robinson said: It’s been an accumulation of 16 years of work since the club was formed. This is a huge personal achievement for me, and in a way we have been challenging ourselves to prepare to operate at this level for a number of years. Now we are over the line I can’t wait for life in the Kingstone Press Championships, we want to be competitive and hope the public will get behind us at this exciting time!’
However, this wasn’t only an achievement for the midlands outfit but also the RFL, who have looked to spread the sport throughout the country. Following the success of Hemel Stags, Oxford RL and the University of Gloucester All Gold’s; who all made the step up at the beginning of last year.
RFL Chief Operating Officer, Ralph Rimmer said: “There has really been an admirable amount of work that has gone into Coventry getting to this point. They are about to enter into a competition that connects them directly to the top clubs in Super League. Playing in the Kingstone Press Championships gives them the ability to play divisionally right up to Super league and in cup competitions they could come up against any opposition. It’s a huge boost for the RFL and another pin on the map for Rugby League!”
The Bears talked about how pivotal the relationship with Coventry Rugby has been in securing their position and how working closely with Coventry Rugby’s General manager Phil Maynard had been instrumental in helping the club achieve its dream. Phil Maynard said; “We have worked with the Bears for a number of years developing a solid partnership, having Pro Rugby at the Butts Park Arena twelve months of the year makes solid commercial sense and going forward we hope to develop this relationship in terms of community and playing areas”.
The Bears have also announced that their current Head Coach Tom Tsang would be the man to lead the club into the Pro’ ranks.
Speaking about the announcement Tsang said: It’s a proud day for me to be able to lead the club into the Professional ranks of the sport. We have a second mover advantage in a way and are in a good place from learning from what the other newer clubs have been doing. We are our own business however and hope to utilize our strategies to give us a good advantage towards preparation for 2015’
Coventry will see out the rest of their National Conference campaign before entering a busy close season, as they prepare to enter Kingstone Press Championship One in 2015