WARRINGTON Wolves have launched a new partnership with a school to improve their training facilities for the millennium.

Players and coaching staff will leave their Wilderspool base on Monday to set up camp at William Beamont High School in Long Lane.

The school will provide extra office space, changing rooms, physio rooms, meeting rooms and grass training pitches, while neighbouring Warrington Collegiate will house the team's weight training and conditioning equipment.

Coach Darryl Van de Velde is delighted with the venture, launched on Monday.

"The marketing arm of the Wolves needed extra space and the facilities at Wilderspool aren't big enough, so we have been looking for new facilities for some time," he said.

"It's a great boost for us for two reasons. It gives our chief executive, Peter Deakin, the extra office space he needs at Wilderspool and it gives us an important link to the community.

"I can't thank the school's headmaster John O'Callaghan enough for what he has done. But the move works both ways and we will give something back to them by helping with coaching, classroom discussions and generally the players being role models for the kids."

He added that such schemes were needed to bring British facilities up to the standards of Rugby League rivals Australia.

"Generally training facilities over here are lagging behind the quality of those in Australia, where they have a lot of state of the art gyms and floodlit pitches," he said.

"Quality of training is so important and preparation is the key to how the team plays on a weekend, so you need the right environment. If you have players training in sub-standard facilities with mud upto their ankles it puts a negative attitude right through the team.

"Or if the training field has pot-holes there's a risk of people getting injured, and with so much money tied up in players at the moment you can't afford to have them in the physio room."

Headmaster Mr O'Callaghan is also looking forward to the partnership.

"Rugby League is so strong in this community so it's going to make everyone feel proud that the Wolves have chosen this school and this area for a partnership," he said.

"This is just the start of the creation of a sporting centre of excellence in this area. We are hoping to bring new all-weather pitches and a sports hall with the help of a lottery bid and our bid for sports college status will be boosted tremendously by our link with the Wolves.

"We also hope that we are helping them. What the town needs is the best team in Super League and if we can help them by providing them with the best training facilities then that will be great."

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