Ysgol Dyffryn Taf recently became the first Carmarthenshire school to have some of its pupils complete the Supporters’ Trust Welsh Baccalaureate Challenge. They were asked to suggest ways in which the match day experience of young fans could be improved?

To launch their Challenge they visited the Liberty Stadium one morning in May. There they spent an hour in the hospitality boxes overlooking the pitch talking with Trust Board members Sian Davies and Roger Goodwin. For part of this time Roger conducted a question and answer session in order to acquaint them with the recent history of the club.

It is important to remember that these 14 and 15 year olds were born “post Petty”! From that they were able to appreciate how and why the Trust came to be formed and just what it is about. The pupils’ teacher then guided them through a brain storming process so as to come up with their initial ideas on how things could be improved for young people on match days.

Next they were given a conducted tour of the Liberty Stadium and, by chance, were able to watch a match between two local teams taking place on the pitch.

On their return to school they continued to work on their ideas, each group of four selecting one which they would present to a panel including a Trust Board member and their teachers. Tuesday 11^th June was the day selected for them to make their presentations. As the pupils already knew him from the Liberty visit Roger made the trip out to Whitland to represent the Trust. However Stuart Macdonald, the Trust’s representative on the club board, had arranged a surprise for the pupils – Lee Trundle had also made the trip out to Whitland and, much to their delight, the groups were able to make their “pitches” to him!

Lee questioned each group closely commenting on how practical its ideas were etc. Ideas included a “rewards scheme” to encourage regular attendance at matches by young fans, ways to speed up the half time catering service, methods to improve access for young disabled fans and a novel idea make it easier for youngsters to improve their view of the pitch.

As a result of recent improvements to our online application system made between the Trust and our website developers Majestic Media in Clydach, all successful pupils on the Schools Inititative will now have the option of applying for a year’s free junior membership of the Swans Trust.

The Swans Trust Team