Hamilton defends Oldham youth decision

OLDHAM Roughyeds chairman Chris Hamilton defended the club’s position following the attack from the local amateur game.

Saddleworth Rangers chairman Terry Flanagan vocalised concerns that are spread across the three local clubs — Rangers, Oldham St Anne’s and Waterhead — who fear they will lose players to the Roughyeds’ new under-18s side, which is to compete in the Gillette National Youth League from March 2011.

Hamilton said the club’s joining of the RFL’s new Championship Scholarship scheme would see players drawn from far and wide and not just the local area, where finding sufficient players to field teams is a major challenge.

And he insisted that it is not the club’s intention to burn bridges between professional and amateur ranks.

“It is unfortunate that Terry Flanagan has taken this stance, given that the Oldham club has merely taken up an opportunity presented by the RFL in response, in part, to the large numbers of players at this age group who are lost to the game — and not just the professional game,” said the Oldham chairman.

“It is beyond argument that young players do not all develop at the same rate and at the same age, and the new Championship Scholarship scheme presents them with another route into the professional game.

“As Oldham are among only a small number of clubs taking up the chance to develop future players in this way it has, as expressed from the outset, presented us with the opportunity to look at players from a much wider geographical area than would normally be the case. That in itself will mean that the effect on local clubs will be diminished.

“It should also be stressed that it is not the intention of either the Oldham club or the RFL to create friction between the professional game and the amateur game.

“The players who, in the main, are going to be chosen for this Scholarship, have all been on similar schemes at other Super League or Championship clubs, but have not been offered contracts.

“The Oldham club has often been criticised in the past for not running a Scholarship scheme to attract players of the future, so isn’t it ironic that, when the right time and the right opportunities come along to enable us to do so, we find that we are now encountering new problems.

“We have been working closely with the amateur game to ensure that relations are good and that they continue to develop, to the point where we have held discussions with and have made an offer to the Oldham Amateur League to host the Standard Cup Final at Whitebank Stadium for a minimum of the next 10 years, thus further cementing our relationship.”

Hamilton added: “It is our intention to continue working with all the amateur clubs in the area in our efforts to make the game in Oldham at all levels as strong as we possibly can.”