BARLA are now declaring that they have sufficient clubs to run a winter based Youth & Junior League in the NW. They have been asked repeatedly for a list of the clubs and teams to enable the summer based NW leagues to plan for next year but aren't releasing any details and not one NW club has so far come forward to say their junior and youth teams are switching back to a winter based season.

PERSONALLY, I can't help but feel they are trying to snowball a competition together.

Sides I've heard mentioned as playing in winter:
Dalton
Blackpool Scorpions
Irlam Hornets
Langworthy Reds
West Bank Bears *
Albert Park
Moorfield Mallards
Widnes Tigers
Leigh East*
Blackbrook Royals*
Golborne Parkside
Rylands Sharks
Higginshaw

* Means this is a separate winter side not the first team returning to winter

Assume there's more I haven't heard and maybe 1 or 2 of the above won't materialise.

This was always going to happen - some clubs would find summer wasn't for them and go back to winter. I've always said we'll probably end up with two similar sized leagues running consecutively, with a small overlap.

The main problem for most clubs in summer seems to be player numbers - summer holidays, music festival, weddings, etc on top of the usual work and other commitments have meant selection nightmares for a lot of teams. We're exactly the same, one week we have 40+ lads, the next we're down to the bare bones and a scratchy 17.

Still, for us summer is the way forward. Winter seasons were a struggle with facilities and poor numbers whereas we've got great facilities and strong numbers in the summer.

The list seems to be growing all the time

growing?!

the mass ranks of clubs joining the league have been talked up for weeks. the reality is that there are 4 more than first suggested and 3 of them are sides playing a winter side in addition to keeping their main sides in summer!