Western Raptors Junior Rugby Club delight in visit from Kurtley Beale and Lalakai Foketi
Kurtley Beale returns home to western Sydney to pay a special visit to Western Raptors Junior Rugby Club as part of NSW Rugby’s Junior Club Blitz initiative.
Blacktown
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Waratahs star Kurtley Beale returned to western Sydney alongside teammate Lalakai Foketi as the pair visited the Western Raptors Junior Rugby Club in Rooty Hill last week.
The duo held several coaching sessions for the club’s under-11 and under-12 age groups as part of NSW Rugby’s Junior Club Blitz initiative.
Introduced in 2013, the program sees Waratahs players visit local clubs with the aim of identifying the next generation of stars.
Blacktown-born Beale said he enjoyed returning to his roots.
“Growing up in the area, to give back to the local community here, I feel like it’s important,” he said.
“There’s a lot of young guys out here who come from not much and to be able to come down and support the local rugby club and give back as much as I can is very important to me as a professional rugby player.”
Beale added that with heavy competition in western Sydney from rival codes, it’s more vital than ever for the Waratahs to encourage juniors to stay in rugby union.
“A lot of the special talent gets picked up by league and AFL, so it’s important that rugby gets out to these communities and gives back to some of these young kids who aspire to be rugby players,” he said.