As part of a family fun day, the club hosted an event to try to set a new Guinness World Record for the number of consecutive passes of a rugby ball.
Each participant stood five metres apart as the ball made its way along the line. Club members, the local community and rugby fans all took part as the club beat the current record by completing 283 consecutive passes. But they are not quite official record holders yet as the club waits for Guinness to officially verify the record.
“We achieved 283 consecutive passes and we had 284 participants but we are not yet Guinness World Record holders,” said event organiser Nicola Roderick.
“Lots of people turned up for the day but many people were concerned about dropping the ball. But we encouraged them and we had many, many people involved. When we achieved the record a huge cheer went up. The atmosphere was electric, it was absolutely wonderful.”
The event was attended by members of the Ospreys squad with Welsh internationals Justin Tipuric and Duncan Jones taking part in the record attempt.
Roderick is hoping the event, which attracted media interest and local support, will benefit the club in the long run and boost participation at all levels of the game.
“I think our youngest participant was eight years old and our oldest was 80, it was very encouraging,” she said. “The whole community got involved and gave it a go, it was absolutely amazing and the atmosphere was brilliant.”
“It was community spirit at its best and the whole day was a real success. We want more players, more coaches and more referees and to promote the game and I think we achieved the aim of the day to get more players involved in the Join the Beat campaign.”
