sport reports THREE PORTHCAWL YOUNGSTERS SIGN FOR SWANSEA
Remarkably three of Porthcawl’s finest young footballers, having played for the same under 8’s team have been signed by the Swansea City Football Academy. Rhys Evans, Aston Bevington and Alex Evans all played for Porthcawl Town under 8’s and after a very successful season were all officially signed for the under 9’s Swansea Academy. It must be very unusual that one team has supplied three players to the Academy but it’s a massive testament to the coaches and the set up at Porthcawl under 8s last year. The coaching standards and support were of the highest quality, which allowed all the boys the very best start to their playing careers. Swansea City’s Academy is categorised as the highest category one level. Based in the shadow of Liberty Stadium, Swans Academy at Landore is a multi-million pound facility where the next generation of first team players are being developed and produced from age nine. The Academy’s pre-season training started for the boys in July this year so they are now well established into the tough regime and set up. It’s a massive commitment for the boys (and parents), which has included training at the Academy facility in Landore 4 days a week with an additional match day against their premier league rivals on the weekends. It has been a remarkable time for the young boys, which has included an official signing day in July where they were presented with a signing on shirt as well as being presented to a capacity crowd at a recent premier league match at the Liberty Stadium. In September all the boys took part in the Welcome to the Premier League Academy Festival at the University of Warwick. During the festival they played against many of their premier league rivals such as Manchester City, Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea. It was a great experience for the boys where they came away with quite a few high-profile wins against top opposition. All the boys know there will be many challenges ahead as they progress at the Academy. They are great friends on and off the field and offer a great deal of support to each other. They have already developed a great team spirt and camaraderie with their new teammates and look forward to all the challenges ahead. Nick Evans, father of Alex Evans
64 | seaside news
GB SELECTION FOR GRACE! Grace Morgan has been a member of Rest Bay Lifeguard Club for over ten years, having joined the club when she was just seven years old. It has long been an ambition for Grace to represent Great Britain in surf lifesaving, and she realised her dream this summer. Following an outstanding season, in both pool and beach competitions, Grace was delighted to be selected to represent GB at the European Championships in Belgium - being one of only two Welsh athletes selected for the Youth Team. In the pool, Grace was a member of the obstacle relay team who broke the British record! On the beach, Grace swam a tough surf swim race to come out of the sea in bronze medal position. Grace was also a member of the ocean relay team who became European Champions. The GB Youth Team was a force to be reckoned with in the sea and on the beach, winning that element of the competition. As you read this article, Grace is in New Zealand representing Great Britain for the second time this year in the International Surf Rescue Challenge. Good luck Grace! Grace is the first member from Rest Bay to represent GB, and as a club, we are very proud of her.
PORTHCAWL RFC NEW SPONSOR
We are delighted to have James Bater and uSmile Dental Practice on board as our main sponsor this season. The sponsorship deal will mean that the uSmile logo will take pride of place on our first team’s playing shirts and shorts. After gaining promotion last season to Division 3 West Central A, as a Club we were keen to invest in new playing kit for our players. It’s vital for grass roots clubs to have the support and investment from local businesses to be able to do this. As an ex-Ospreys player James understands the need for support and investment in the community game. James Said “I’m delighted to be able to support Porthcawl RFC in this way, as an ex-professional rugby player I gained so much from the game I love and it’s great to be able to give something back in this way