Nine Juniors. Nine Job Roles, One Experience. Wakefield Trinity Community Foundation is delighted to confirm the success of our first-ever Junior Takeover.

To celebrate our Trinity Family Gameday, the club was keen to invite our Junior Members to the stadium for a behind-the-scenes look at what our club staff get up to on a matchday. Assigned to specific job roles, each member had an important role in making our game against Leigh run smoothly.

Starting with a gameday meeting with our Chief Executive Officer, Michael Carter, participants were inducted as Wakefield Trinity staff members for the day, being offered advice & guidance on the work that goes into making the matchday run smoothly. From there, the juniors were given the opportunity to look around at the stadium, walk on the pitch, take a look from the top of the North Stand & being shown around the dressing rooms, with photo opportunities being made available with the starting players’ shirts.

After induction and a tour, everyone dispersed into their specific job roles with their designated member of staff, ready for a busy day of work ahead.

Alfie Steeples – CEO – Gameday duties vary for a CEO/Head of Foundation & Alfie’s role was no different. After helping set up & working with the Rugby League member of staff on the pitch, he was ushered straight up to the restaurant to meet our sponsors, whose funds make the club tick. After a few more jobs, Aflie joined Michael back in the restaurant for his pre-match interview/speech to sponsors before watching the game pitchside. A final Q&A in the restaurant followed before his day ended at 5:30pm, once all the guests had vacated the building.

Amelia Grice – Pitch Announcer – Joining Phil Seymour on the pitch, our Junior Member for the day, Amelia Grice, was exemplary behaviour throughout the whole experience, reading the script with ease, whilst showing enthusiasm as the players walked to the field. Amelia really did enhance the supporters’ experience.

Liam Grayson – Media Manager – Liaising with the press, helping sort out our pre-match equipment & helping with the in-game social media, Liam Grayson was part of the whole matchday experience. Learning from Connor Grace, Liam got to grips with running our social channels on a gameday, setting him up for a career in the industry. Following the post-match press, Liam even found himself on BBC Radio Leeds with James Deighton, rounding off his Junior Takeover.

Ben Wilkinson – Media Executive – Helping run our first-ever Junior Takeover, Ben Wilkinson was in the Media Executive hot seat as he looked to capture all of the pre-match content. While looking to create a buzz on social media, Ben was on hand to pull together some photos & videos for our digital output, whilst getting to grips with writing posts for the first time. Outstanding from Ben, who enhanced the whole digital user experience on Sunday.

Chloe Ibbotson-Whitehead – Ticket Office Manager – Displaying excellent confidence, Chloe was the face of the club for our match against Leigh Leopards. Working with Darren & Amy in the shop, Chloe was the friendly face on hand to make sure everyone had what they needed to get into the stadium. Taking payment, finding collections & handing out tickets, Chloe was extremely busy until that 3pm whistle.

Dexter Grice – Photographer – With his bright orange bib on & his camera intact, Dexter was shadowing our experienced photographer, Dean Williams, who was on hand to capture our first-ever Junior Takeover day, pre-match festivals, Wakefield Trinity X Dance, half-time challenge & our in-game photos.

Spencer Woods – Big Screen Operator – Working with our Big Screen Operator, Matthew Bell, Spencer was at the helm of our Big Screen, making sure that all the content was lined up as well as published at the correct time. With a very precise role, Spencer took to his job with ease, making sure that another part of our gameday ran fluidly.

Joseph Eccleston & Lewis Ord – Following their pre-match checks of the dressing room, Joseph & Lewis played a vital part in the team’s pre-match preparation. After helping our Head Strength & Conditioning Coach, Joel Fulford, set up the warm-up, Joe & Lewis was on hand to pass them the balls as the players entered the field. After completing their pre-match duties, both juniors became ball boys for the afternoon, watching the game from the privileged position of pitch side.

Speaking on the day as a whole, the Foundation’s Media & Commercial Executive, William Moore, said, “We were delighted with how our first-ever Junior Takeover day ran.

“The participants were a credit to their parents & every single one of them played a vital role in making sure our match against Leigh Leopards went smoothly. Some of the job roles were not easy to pick up, yet all of them took to them with ease and worked exactly how our club staff would do on a matchday.

“It was a pleasure to have them involved.”

For more information on community activity, please email will.moore@wakefieldtrinity.com.