Ahead of the 2016 season Widnes Vikings Academy players are to be tasked with an exciting project as part of their academic studies with the Club.

The players will be given the responsibility for designing the shirt that they will wear for the forthcoming season.

This initiative will give the players the chance to put into practice the skills that they have developed on the Vikings education programme.

The players will liaise with club staff, suppliers and sponsors to work through the different stages of the production process until they have a shirt to wear to run out onto the i-Pitch in for the 2016 season.

This is the latest in a fantastic range of initiatives that have put the Vikings Academy on the rugby league map.

Earlier this year, the Vikings Academy was awarded ‘outstanding’ status by an independent RFL audit after just three years back in Super League.

Last month the Club announced that ten young players had signed contracts to step up from the Vikings Scholarship programme to become full-time Academy players.

The Vikings Academy is constantly striving to offer the best possible structure to education and rugby league training for young people.

Phil Finney, Widnes Vikings Head of Youth commented: “The club is the first of the professional Super League clubs to have introduced new concepts including full time academy programmes, inclusive of in-house education courses.

"We believe our focus on academic achievement has significantly raised the performance standards of our academy players making their way into the Super League squad.

The new kit initiative for the youth players is a great idea and will provide the youth with their own identity that also recognises the history and tradition of the Club.



The boys will be involved with the project from the outset and will drive the kit design, the marketing and sales strategy for the shirt.



This kind of experience is absolutely vital when integrating players at the Club and allows them to learn a little bit about the whole organisation and appreciate the work that happens off the field to drive performance on the field.”

Ahead of the 2016 season 24 local businesses have pledged their support for the Widnes Vikings Academy and will sponsor the home and away playing kits. Investment in the club at Academy level has faciliatated this opportunity for players to bring a ‘real-life’ design, marketing and sales venture to fruition.

Widnes Vikings Marketing Director Brian O’Connor commented: “I am really excited about the concept of allowing our youngsters to be 
in control of their own 2016 playing kit.

"Our education programme is
 developing at an incredible pace and this project will allow our
 students to work closely with key members of the management team to 
develop their skills and gain an understanding of all areas of the
 business.

"The Academy kit will be sold in the Vikings Superstore for the 
first time ahead of the 2016 season which means that the students taking part in the project will 
be designing and marketing a new retail product and the success of the
 campaign will be proven with genuine results.


" believe it will be a very rewarding project and would like to thank
 the 2016 Academy sponsors for their support which has facilitated a fantastic project for our young players.”

Stephen Cunniffe, Managing Director of FDL Packaging said: “We are very happy to have been given this opportunity to sponsor the Widnes Vikings Academy kit.

"We see the valuable work that is done helping cultivate new talent for the club and we believe it’s really important for the local community.”

Peter Rouski Director of Abbeyfords Estate Agent added: “As a family run business, being involved in the Widnes community is important to Abbeyfords.

"Widnes Vikings is at the heart of the town and as well as being a highly successful sports team, the Vikings contribute a great deal to the local community.

"The Vikings values match our own so Abbeyfords’ support for the Vikings is a perfect match. We feel privileged to support the young players at the Club.”

The 24 companies sponsoring the Widnes Vikings Academy for 2016 season are: 

 Abbeyfords Estate Agents, Anthonys Travel , Bramwell Morris, C&C Insurance Brokers, Chadwick Lawrence, Electrod UK,
 FDL Packaging Group, Halton School Dinners, Heritage Leisure (Nightstop), Ignition Publications, Jigsaw Law, Lambros Paving Contractors, Landscape World,
 Let's party,
 Macfarlane Packaging,
 Office Bridge Solutions, Martin Hawthorne (RL Cares), Polyblend UK, Spectrum Welding, Stobart Group, Stobart Rail, White Moss Garden Centre, Xpel Marketing,
 Zebra Finance.

Two of the Academy sponsors have very kindly donated their sponsorship positions to charity and the Club would like to thank them for their generous donation.

As a result of this the position acquired by Heritage Leisure will bear the Nightstop Communities Northwest logo and the one that Martin Hawthorne secured will be used for Rugby League Cares branding.