No Butts, academy is the real deal - The Worcester Observer

No Butts, academy is the real deal

Worcester Editorial 20th Nov, 2014 Updated: 19th Oct, 2016   0

HAVING produced the likes of Tom Wood, Neil Back and Danny Grewcock, people will argue it is no surprise bosses at London Wasps decided to move to Coventry.

The city, which will be the new home of the Aviva Premiership club from next month, is also the birthplace of former England internationals Andy Goode, Rob Hardwick and Leon Lloyd.

Wasps will no doubt hope to one day take advantage of the talent in the area, but when digging a little deeper it appears Worcester Warriors are in prime position to beat them to it.

What all those players have in common is that they began their careers at Barkers Butts and that just so happens to be where Worcester have chosen to launch one of their six new academy centres.




Coincidence? Unlikely – and high performance director Nick Johnston said he was relishing the chance to strengthen their relationship with the Coventry-based club.

“Barkers Butts has got a rich history and tradition of creating internationals, so this is a big thing for us,” he said.


“Our view is pretty simple. If we back our programme to be better than Wasps’ it will ultimately reward the young rugby player and the aspiring coach, fitness trainer or physiotherapist while helping to develop rugby further in this area.

“It is a rich scene here and we want to maintain that.”

The launch, which took place last week, saw a host of rugby coaches attend a lecture focused on athletic development and nutrition for young players, while there was also an opportunity to watch a scrum clinic with Warriors coach Ceri Jones and England Ladies World Cup winning coach Graham Smith.

In the long-term, the centre is set to give promising young players from across the city a pathway to playing professional rugby.

And John Askill, president of Barkers Butts RFC, admitted this link marked another big step in the club’s history.

“I am excited about the partnership,” he said, “Our rugby union pathway is from Barkers through to Worcester and we have supported it lock, stock and barrel all the way through.

“We are a very successful club here and we have had players who have gone on to do wonderful things. Andy Goode, Tom Wood, Neil Back, Danny Grewcock and Jim Hamilton all came from us, so lots of players have started their journeys at Barkers.

“Some have gone on to play for Worcester and some not, but now we have got an academy centre here it will mean that those players who may not have gone to Worcester will now go through them.”

Askill described Barkers as a “huge development centre” for youngsters as he said more than 400 children attend their mini and junior section and he believes they will benefit from top class coaches being on site.

“Our players’ parents have had to get into their cars to drive to Worcester, so this will help them to get the expertise off those coaches on their doorstep which will be of huge benefit to them,” he added.

“It is an exciting venture and it is a link which we think will be good for Worcester and it will be good for all Coventry clubs and players to develop their skills.”

Askill said he was confident Wasps’ move to the Ricoh Arena would be successful, but he insisted Barkers’ allegiances lie firmly with Worcester and that is what has got Johnston so excited.

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