As Chair of Bridgend & District Schools (Junior Section), and headteacher of a primary school in the Bridgend area, I feel I have to write to you to outline a picture of the sad state of affairs in the previously “rugby mad” borough of Bridgend.

Ever since my father took me to my first rugby international over 40 years ago, rugby has played a major part in my life.

I have regularly attended internationals in Cardiff for the last 40 years. I enjoyed rugby at school and played for a local village team and, for the last 20 years, I have coached and refereed at school and district level with great enthusiasm.

For many years it was rewarding to see boys who we coached in the Bridgend area mature and become international players. These players include Robert Howley, Jonathan Humphreys, Gareth Thomas, Gavin Henson, Gareth Cooper along with many other senior Welsh internationals. 

Over the years it has been pleasing to see the dedication and enthusiasm for rugby in Bridgend (similarly, I understand, in the Pontypridd area).

These boys had local heroes to look up to: JPR Williams, Steve Fenwick, Gareth Williams and many others who played for the Bridgend team.

Thousands of boys supported their heroes and all aspired to play for the Bridgend team in the future. It was fantastic to have a team to belong to, a team to cheer every Saturday.

Changes were made last year with the formation of the Celtic Warriors. A difficult time! But a change that was slowly accepted as the year went on – especially with the success of the Warriors team.

The picture now? Sadly a very different picture. There is no team for these boys to look up to. What of the future? I have read reports in the paper that these boys should support the Neath and Swansea Ospreys!

What pupils in Neath or Swansea would support the Bridgend Ospreys?

This may not make much difference to me outside school as I will continue to follow the Welsh team and possibly the Llanelli Scarlets, due to the fact that my family are from the area, but I feel very saddened that these boys have no team of their own associated with the Bridgend area for them to look up to.

This is not just a personal opinion, I speak on behalf of several other teachers, parents and several other individuals I have spoken to from Bridgend schools.

For the record Bridgend has been a hotbed for nurturing future internationals – dominating the DC Thomas Cup for the past 30years. (The DC Thomas Cup is a Western Mail sponsored national competition for school district teams throughout Wales).

We have over 30 schools that play and promote rugby in the Bridgend area. The change in mood and feeling is very similar to the bitterness experienced by the miming communities in Wales when mines closed and the lifeline of thousands was taken away from them.

For the future of rugby, and several thousands of youngsters in Bridgend, I am at a loss to see the way forward for this vast amount of young innocent pupils from our district.

I will finish by stating that as an individual, I will continue to promote rugby in my school but in the current climate, it is getting increasingly difficult to generate enthusiasms for the love of the game that has been a natural instinct for so many boys (and girls) in the traditional rugby communities in and around Bridgend.

Do you have genuine words of hope for the thousands of pupils and our future generation, Mr Moffett?

Martin Griffiths

Bridgend & District Schools’ Rugby Union Junior Group

(Affiliated to WSRU)

Tynyrheol Primary School

Llangeinor

Bridgend

Bookmark or share this story with:

• Digg
• Delicious
• Facebook
• Reddit
• Stumbleupon

SPORTNETWORK SPECIALS

• Think you know your sport? Click here to try the Sportnetwork Prize Quizzes