West Wales Raiders make new partnership with Sandnes Rugby League

The Sandnes Raiders and the West Wales Raiders are rugby league teams from very different geographical locations but with a shared goal of trying to establish themselves within their respective competitions. The Sandnes Raiders are a young club in Norway who are competing in their domestic league while the West Wales Raiders continue to find their way in the UK League 1 competition. As both clubs strive to improve both on and off the field they have built a relationship that will now see the Head Coach of West Wales, Kim Williams, head over to Norway to work with the Coaches and players of the Sandnes Raiders in September this year. This will be the first time ever a professional coach from the UK has gone over to Norway to help grow rugby league.

Williams has been in constant contact with the Captain of Sandnes, Kim Andre Seglem, and the relationship between the two clubs has now grown to a point where there is an excellent opportunity to work together to help grow our great sport. Williams will spend a weekend with the Sandnes Raiders in a camp situation where there will be a major focus on upskilling the Coaching staff and players. It is hoped that this initial visit will lead to a stronger relationship between the two clubs where there can be mutual benefits for both parties.

West Wales Raiders Head Coach Kim Williams stated “I can’t wait to get over to Norway to work with the staff and players from the Sandnes Raiders. My discussions with their Captain Kim Andre Seglem have been very positive and I can tell that they are a club with great ambitions and a willingness to learn and improve. I am very passionate about the growth of our game Internationally and I am looking forward to developing the relationship between the two Raiders’ Clubs in the future.”

Sandnes Raiders captain Kim André Seglem -  “ Sandnes Raiders was founded in 2015 and have gone from strength to strength since our first tournament in the end of 2015. Quickly growing to now having one of the largest playing squads in the competition while also starting a junior academy, the timing of Kim’s visit couldn’t be better. To have some fresh eyes look at how we do things is always good. We already have a very experienced head coach but when the opportunity to get someone of Kim’s calibre over to Norway we jumped on it. He will have a look at our organisation and we will look to learn as much as possible of him on everything from playing, coaching, engaging with community and so on. We are also going to invite players from other clubs so they can then take back some new knowledge to their respective trainings.