On Thursday 04 April, Thunder Community's Development Officer returned to Catterick Garrison to run a long awaited Coaching Camp for Crusaders. Crusaders were really happy that 18 of their juniors booked onto the camp. Crusaders utilised the excellent facilities of Wavell Rd Sports Pitches, which has been our pre-season training base since February. In the morning the groups covered Play the Ball and Catch and Pass. Combining skills phases with plenty of fun games. After lunch, it was all fun games for everyone to enjoy. Crusaders U12's coach, Adam Coburn, introduced everyone to a great game called Mario Carts - no not that one - the Thunder Community staff will definitely be pinching that idea. Also in the mix were games like bulldog, cops and robbers, Doctors and various relay games. One game the attendees certainly weren't expecting was a small team memory game, Kim's Game. Everyone scored really well at this, but team Wrecking Ball took the honours with a score of 21, which included some well deserved bonus points. Everyone left with big smiles on their faces, having enjoyed the day.

Thunder Community Rugby Camps are back! Get yourself booked on! It's fantastic news the Thunder Community Rugby Camps are back in the calendar, and Crusaders are very happy to be selected to host the first one in over a year. Thunder Community Rugby Camps are great fun, coupling Rugby League skills development with fun and games. The camp takes place on Thursday 4th April, at Wavell Rd pitches, between 10am and 3pm. Our camp can be booked following this link; https://www.rugbycamps.co.uk/thunder The camps are delivered by Thunder Community staff, who are coaching, safeguarding and first aid trained. Let's do the Crusader thing and make this a massive day with great numbers booked on.

Crusaders are pleased to announce they have partnered up the Contour Sport who will be providing our training and leisure wear for 2024. Our club shop can be found at https://www.contoursport.com/cc where you will find an extensive range of smart clothing to kit yourself out with, at great prices. As the partnership develops, in the coming months, we will be adding some bespoke sublimated items to the range. We look forward to seeing lots of Crusaders kitted out in their new stash.

Saturday marked the Launch Weekend for Masters Rugby League. Crusaders Masters decided to join forces with North East Thunder Masters and take a trip over to Cumbria for a festival hosted by Arlecdon Rams. Despite it being a dark blustery day, the joint team recieved a warm welcome over West, and were soon guided to where they needed to be etc, by Arlecdon's ladies section, Arlecdon Ewes. Also in attendance were Carlisle Masters, Maryport Masters and Barrow Masters. The joint team were drawn against the hosts and Carlisle. Both games were played in great Masters spirit and a great deal of fun despite the cold weather. Turning out for the joint team from Crusaders were, Paul Clarke, Don Payne, Darren Cunnington and Ian McKechnie. After the games we enjoyed some great Cumbrian hospitality in the impressive Arlecdon club house. Lots of memorabilia on display for Rugby League geeks. It was Crusaders shirts on display on Saturday, and we'd like to thank our shirt sponsors Marstons. Also thanks to our polo shirt sponsors Burties Hair Design, iSecure Group, eCreative Design, Lighthouse Risk Services LLP and Top Third. Crusaders Masters will next be in action, at home, against our friends from Boothtown Terriers on Saturday 13 April at Robertson Rd. All support is welcome.

It's almost time for the Masters season to get going and Crusaders Masters have a full calendar to look forward to, starting in March. Crusaders Masters have been quick to get their player numbers in. The registration link was put out at 10am today (30 January) and less than 12 hours later, they have the required 15 registrations by the RFL before they can play, with more regulars still to register. Crusaders Masters are always on the look out for more players. Playing and training commitments are low. Masters Rugby League is limited contact played in great spirit. There's great banter in each games and a great social atmosphere afterwards. We have a number of options for fees to suite every pocket! So if you are 35+ and fancy something new, or fancy another crack at Rugby League, you won't be disappointed. If you'd like to register with us, please follow the link below. For further info, please drop us a line. https://membership.mygameday.app/regoform.cgi?aID=27305&pKey=0d13b6f3f28bdf71419d49b02ca685c9&cID=27

Tomorrow night, Catterick Crusaders Masters will close a great season with their End of Season Awards night. Under the enthusiastic drive of Ben Smith, Crusaders have enjoyed what is technically their second season, however having only played a single fixture the year before it is certainly the first season with a structured fixture list. The team enjoyed 6 fixtures against, Boothtown, Guiseley, Carlisle, Morley and Heworth (home and away). They also took part in the Cumbria and National (Blackpool) Festivals. Registrations took a rise, with 23 players getting involved at stages through the season, as well as various guest players. The team has also recognised its players efforts by issuing heritage numbers to any player that registers for the team and subsequently takes to the field. Guest players must play 5 games before being given a heritage number. 27 numbers were issued during the season, with one to be issued tomorrow evening! Tomorrow evening the following awards will be up for grabs; Master of Steel - sponsored by Laser Tattoo Removal and Body Piercing Master of the Season - sponsored by Martin Beaver Comedy Moment - sponsored by Burties Hair Design Clubman of the Season - sponsored by Octopus Solutions Group Ltd Guest Master of the Season - sponsored by Penguin Tailoring and Medal Mounting Servies. Thank you to all our trophy sponsors. Throughout the season Crusaders Masters have always looked on point in their smart kit kindly sponsored by Marstons. We have also been equally smart in the bar whilst sporting our team polos. Thank you to our apparel sponsors, Burties Hair Design, iSecure Group, Lighthouse Risk Services LLP, eCreative Design and Top Third. Tomorrow night looks to be great event and much merriment should be had. Please keep an eye on our social media channels tomorrow night to find who our winners are.

Tomorrow Armed Forces Veterans will gather at Rochdale Mayfield to take part in the annual Veteran v Veterans Rememberance Fixture. The fixture is always popular and 40 players have made themselves available for the fixture. 7 players from the North East Masters community will make the journey across the Pennines to take part. Jason Grant, Paul Clarke and Darren Cunnington from Catterick Crusaders Masters will join up with George Taylor, Ken Mason, Craig Ellis and Barry McDonald from North East Thunder Masters. On arrival players are assigned to either team black or team purple for the game. Crusaders Masters would like to acknowledge the huge effort Carl Abraham, from Rochdale Masters, has put into organising this great event again. Not just getting players and kits together but also sourcing sponsors, ensuring we have a good venue to play at, feeding us, securing prizes and securing funds to help all this happen! Great work. Veterans Master Rugby League shirt and apparel can be purchased from Stag Sports. £5 from each shirt goes towards a military charity. https://stag-sports.com/product-category/veterans-masters-rl/ "They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them."

Last Saturday Catterick Crusaders celebrated the End of Season Awards for their junior section. The season saw some huge successes with the U8's and U10's taking part in all their available NERL festivals as well as the U8's travelling down to Shaw Cross for their festival. The U12's had a great season with the bulk of the team being only true 11 year olds. They played some great matches and secured a Plate Final match against Gateshead Storm. The final was a classic with neither side giving an inch. Crusaders managed to hold their nerve in Golden Point extra time though, to seal the win. Our U14's Girls side took on festival season with all guns blazing. Winning 3 out of the 3 festivals they entered at Shaw Cross, Normanton Knight and Hull FC. The girls made an impression throughout festival season and recieved a lot of praise, as well as making some great new friends. The U16's looked like they wouldn't get a team out this season but after some really hard work from Coach Gavin Cole they not only had a team, they nearly had enough for two. The U16's won the league and played in a great final against Gateshead Storm unfortunately Storm proved to a little bit too strong in an epic encounter. The award winners on the day were as follows: U8's (Mixed) Club Person - Noah Button Most Improved - Max Brown Coaches Player - Henry Lowther Players Player - Noah Friend U10's (Mixed) Club Person - Jacob Thurtle Most Improved - Archie Lee Coaches Player - Sam Harris Players Player - Lucy Cawthorne U12's (Boys) Club Person - Sebastian Pennington Most Improved - Archie Thomas Coaches Player - Bobbie Dulson Players Player - Steeno Lewavakula U14's (Girls) Club Person - Rosalyn Civil and Amelia Hawkins Most Improved - Ruby Anderson Coaches Player - Isobel Banks Players Player - Neve Bangura U16's (Boys) Club Person - Owen - Tyler Cole Most Improved - Jake Lerigo Coaches Player - Jack Buttitta Players Player - Noah Bangura Crusaders are now in off season, but will look to get going again around February Half Term.

Last Sunday Crusaders Masters completed their season with an away trip to Heworth. Thankfully the weather was kinder than it had been in the build which allowed from some fast hobbling Rugby League. Unfortunately both sides were suffering from some end of season number problems. Crusaders had two no shows and the original referee went down with COVID, which meant Paul Clarke had to revert to being the miserable whistle blower. Heworth kindly loaned us across a player which meant we could play 11 v 11. Jason Grant was determined to get through the game without getting pinged for kicking before the 5th and last. This he mastered! However he also produced the howler of the game! On the 5th he wanted to put the ball high into the corner. Jase was confident, things had been going his way until this point, he'd even forced a couple of knock ons from his kicks. The confidence was short lived because as soon as the ball had struck his boot he knew he'd not just spooned it ...... he'd ladelled it, the ball went backwards, all the Crusaders left it (probably due to laughter) the ref, very harshly called "play on" and Heworth ran 80m to score. With ball in hand both teams played some great running rugby. Jay Wainwright remembered to give 5 metres and ran in some decent ball. Christian Button also banged out some great drives, but still can't remember what a drop off/switch is in the heat of the moment! There's always next season. Ian McKechnie did a sterling job as dummy half, this is despite a debilitating cankle injury. Don Payne(intheass) produced a Master of the Match performance, his second against Heworth. Jay Wainwright stood in for him in the pint off, which resulted in possibly the slowest ever drinking race witnessed in Rugby League! Darren Cunnington unfortunately lost his sponsorship deal with Teflon. After a very dropsy start, things started to stick and Teflon reneged on the deal. Crusaders would like to thanks Heworth for the return leg, our only one of the season. It was a great game played in great spirit. We look forward to some more fixtures next year. Crusaders would like to thank their shirt sponsors Marstons. We would also like to thank our polo shirt sponsors Burties Hair Design, iSecure Group, eCreative Design, Lighthouse Risk Services LLP and Top Third. Crusaders Masters will now wrap up there season with some End of Season Awards. Details to follow.

On Sunday 01 October, Crusaders Masters will make the relatively short journey to York to take on Heworth, in the return leg of a fixture earlier in the season. Despite numbers being affected by those liking a bit of kick and clap ....... and a few other reasons, Crusaders will still field a full team. The game will be the last of the season in Crusaders colours for the team and we hope it's as enjoyable as the home leg. Alex Cook-Smith, Ken Mason, Craig Ellis and Zsikai Balazs have answered the Crusaders call and will guest for us from North East Thunder Masters. Jason Grant and Paul Clarke look set to make it through as the teams only 100% attendee's. Crusaders are far from confident that Jay Wainwright will remember the 5m rule for a kick return, he's not right bright and it's only his FOURTH game, hopefully he'll have it sussed by the end of next season. Jayne Whitby has placed a fresh order of tape for Mr Milk It Christian Button, who's arm is still apparently hurting. We don't wish to judge but the after effects of his MMR jab in school Year 7, should have worn off by now!! Also making the trip are Bossman Ben Smith, Darren Cunnington, Don Payne, Daryl Friend and Ian McKechnie. Crusaders Masters would like to thank our shirt sponsors Marstons. We would also like to thank our polo shirt sponsors Burties Hair Design, iSecure Group, Lighthouse Risk Services LLP, eCreative Design and Top Third.

The festivals of the 2023 Rugby League season may have finished for our Under 8s team, but the fun and hard work certainly hasn't. On Saturday 23rd September the team will set themselves the challenge of walking to the summit of Yorkshire's highest peak, Whernside. The walk will be led by one of the parents, Jon Lowther and supported by Daryl Friend. The Under 8s team will be taking on this challenge and they will be supported on the trek by Mum's, Dad's, brothers, sisters and grandparents. For such young children, this is a wonderful opportunity and a life experience for them take on, not just on a personal level, but to also take on as a team, including coaches, team managers and first aiders. If you fancy joining us, we are meeting at 9:30 at 'The Station Inn’, Ribblehead, Low Sleights Rd, Carnforth, LA6 3AD. We expect the walk to last about 5 hours, with our little legs (and old legs)! All that we ask is that Under 18s are accompanied by an adult. Please could you support our young children with raising money for their team for the 2024 season, every penny helps. https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/jonathan-lowther?utm_id=1&utm_term=6qJ99w3rk

Last Saturday Crusaders Masters made the trip to Blackpool to take part in the National Masters festival. Richard of the Day, was almost decided before the team had even arrived in the seaside resort, as an over eager Jase yelled out "Blackpool Tower, l saw it first!" whilst speeding down the M55 ...... only to realise it was just a pylon. Crusaders were in the first round of matches that opened the festival and took on hosts Blackpool. Second contender for Richard of the Day came in the formidable form of Phil Sorby, who, not content that a Gold shorter had given him the step and was on his way past him, decided to become a tadge more physical than the rules allow! Thankfully the 65 year old gent recovered sufficiently to keep causing Crusaders lots of trouble. Meanwhile Phil had a short rest on the sideline. The game was evenly matched and very enjoyable. After a half an hour break, Crusaders played their second game against Huddersfield outfit, Underbank. Although these were just 25 minute games, this was probably the best game game Crusaders have played so far this year. Things just seemed to click and the penny dropped with a very large clunk! There was great clashes between the White and Black shorters to set up some great play for our Red, Gold and Blue shorters. Everyone rolling back the years to play some free flowing rugby. Both games were played in true Masters spirit. With lots of banter flowing each way. Congratulations to Daryl Friend who made his debut for Crusaders Masters and earned his Heritage number. It was a massive privilege to have North East Thunder Masters player Jim Collins with us. Blue shorter (80+) Jim had let it be known that the festival was likely to be his final outing of his illustrious Masters career which has also seen him represent his country. Fittingly Crusaders and Underbank formed a tunnel to applaud Jim from the field after their game. Post festival, Ben took the day trippers East in the funless bus (must have been - I wasn't on it!) whilst those staying over headed for the after party in the marquee at the cricket club. After a few hours, Jase, Jay, Darren and Paul headed to a drinking establishment not too far away from their accommodation. It was certainly one of those venues that had everything going on, but nothing you wanted to be part of!! Jay insisted on watching some strange form of rugby where you can whoop a team by just kicking it. The rest of us allowed him, it kept him quiet! Crusaders Masters would like to thank their shirt sponsors Marstons. We would also like to thank our polo sponsors Burties Hair Design, iSecure Group, eCreative Design, Lighthouse Risk Services LLP, and Top Third. Crusaders Masters next outing is 01 October, away, against Heworth.