Academy Update December 2016 from BullBuilder Board Member Paul Fisher

As well as having been a valuable and energetic member of the BullBuilder committee for the past two years, Paul Fisher has worked as a volunteer as Player Welfare Coordinator at the club, leading to his recently having been voted ‘Clubperson of the Year’. Consequently, he is in a unique position to deliver the following report.

We now have settled U19 and U16 squads and the coaching staff are very pleased with all the players at both levels. Training is going well there is a good attitude and commitment being shown, and some very promising talent coming through.

There has been the U16 Scholarship presentation evening, which was attended by over 200 people comprising players, parents, management and coaching staff and was a very well organised, professional event.

Both the U19’s and U16’s are attending workshops and, due to John Bastian’s initiative, parents / guardians are invited and quite a few attend. It is really good to see the parents and guardians being involved and they witness the care and attention given to the players and are made to feel an important part of their son’s development.

Workshops attended to date are as follows:

• RFL Sport Psychology UPK Workshop (U19)
• Drug & Alcohol abuse (By a parent of one of the players who is a senior Detective Inspector).
• Diet & Nutrition (very good message and guidance given & we are hoping to have several more of these).

Workshops being arranged over the next few weeks.

• Social Media (in house by Stuart Duffy or Robbie Hunter Paul)
• Social & Non-prescription Drugs (in house)
• UK Anti-Doping (RFL)
• Speed Awareness (by a parent of one of the players who is a leading Fireman)

The above demonstrates the success of good networking and inclusiveness resulting in a culture that most other clubs can only aspire to.

Whenever the Bulls Academy set-up is discussed with people outside the club via my Player Welfare duties, there is nothing but praise, whether from presenters, people involved at other clubs or the RFL.

I have just been to the U16 training session on the 4G pitch at the Bradford Academy (who, by the way, are being very supportive and really behind John and the youth set) and listening to the coaches there are some great prospects coming through.

The main point however is that the lads are really enjoying themselves and work hard and you see this in everything they do. We even had a sing song on the pitch after the final session: they all got together and gave us a great rendition on ‘we wish you a Merry Xmas’. It should have been recorded since this is just one example of the team spirit and culture that is instilled in the youth set, all thanks to John and his team.

In summary even with the constraints and restrictions John and the coaching staff are working to, we are very fortunate to have John and his team running the Academy and we should be very proud and grateful for this. Therefore our continued support can only greatly assist in helping John and the coaching staff deliver this ‘centre of excellence’.

This kind of support from BullBuilder recently led to the purchase of some medical callipers for measuring body fat as part of the physical development programme for young players. When they were delivered, John Bastian wrote:

“On behalf of everyone at Bradford Bulls I would like to congratulate and thank Bullbuilder for the great support they have given to the Development of our Junior Players, we are very grateful and appreciate all your hard work. Finally many thanks for the recent acquisition of a set of Body Callipers.”

If you would like to join BullBuilder or even become part of the committee visit the Bullbuilder website at http://www.bullbuilder.co.uk/ or write to Bullbuilder, Bradford Rugby League Supporters Society Ltd, Suite 2 Buttershaw Works, Buttershaw Lane, Bradford, BD6 2DD.