Wizards playing crucial community role during crisis

The Wizards were due to take on Merthyr in the semi-final of the cup last Sunday. Instead of bemoaning the loss of a route to silverware, commercial director Chris Davies and chairman Andrew Vaughan John determined to make something positive from the situation.

Lloyd Evans, the former Wales Sevens man and the Wizards’ Forward of the Year, takes up the story: “Chris set up this scheme with Age Connects Neath Port Talbot, a charity which encourages social inclusion for older people in the community. As well as his commercial role he’s also our defence coach, but his work behind the scenes in the community is amazing.

“All that’s backed by Andrew, who’s been central to putting the club at the heart of the community. He wants us to be hands on in that respect. When the Age Connects opportunity came up, he contacted the players to ask who would be free to help run errands for some of the older people in the area, and we jumped at the chance.”

Evans was assigned four people living in Aberavon and the local area. “Two of the ladies gave me a shopping list and when I turned up at their house they couldn’t believe it. These are people who either have no one, with no form of transport, or their family live far away,  One lady lives in a place where there are no shops nearby, and the bus that normally stops outside her house is no longer running.”

Evans is proud to say that he and his teammates will continue to do the shopping run for the people of Aberavon – a scheme that was praised by local boy Michael Sheen (see video above), the Hollywood star who has also done so much to support the club and the town.

Then again, playing an encouraging role for others is nothing new to the 29-year-old from Bridgend, since he is also a WRU Hub Officer in Maesteg Comprehensive School. “We’re on rotas now, going in every Monday to support the kids. There aren’t many in, but we do activities to keep them happy and on task.”

The COVID-19 restrictions have also put paid to the continuation this summer of the successful Generation Se7ens camps, established by Evans and former Wales Sevens teammate and Olympic silver medallist Sam Cross. The duo are looking to embrace the proliferation of online resources in the current climate.

“We had over 100 children attend our half-term camp, so we’re now working on producing online content,” says Evans. “Every time we’ve held the camp we’ve sold out. Both of us are from sevens backgrounds, and we identified that there was no real pathway for children to play sevens or develop their sevens skills, so we decided to set up our own academy.”

Right now, though, Evans is delighted to be able to play his part in the Aberavon community, with a club that is so close to his heart. “My Bamps used to work in the steelworks. His ashes were scattered on the Aberavon pitch. When [head coach] Jason Hyatt asked me to join I couldn’t say no, although I loved my time at Ebbw Vale with Greg Woods.

“You can’t really moan about the circumstances of the season being cancelled, but we could have gone a long way this year. The coaches put a lot of trust in us and there are no egos. It’s a really enjoyable place to be.”

Defence coach Davies, affectionately known as ‘Swanky’, goes so far as to call Evans a creative genius. “Lloyd has been outstanding this season, a fresh, vibrant addition to the team,” says Davies, himself an accomplished number seven. “There certainly has not been an openside like him at Aberavon for over 15 years – arguably since the Premiership’s formation in 2003.

“He is that type of player where you just have to leave him to it. He will try things that might not always come off, but nine times out of 10 it will work. You cannot discourage that. “

While Evans and his Wizards teammates are unable to do their part on the pitch, they’re certainly making up for it by playing a big role in the community effort.