The new name for professional rugby league in the Midlands.
A new project and club is set to launch this month developed by Coventry Bears owner Alan Robinson to ensure the continuation of the professional game and overcome current challenges facing Rugby League.
Robinson has developed a new brand the Midlands Hurricanes which will take over from the Coventry Bears as the new name for professional Rugby League in Betfred League 1 from next season. The Coventry Bears club and legacy built in the city will still continue to thrive alongside the new project which is aimed at taking the sport to new heights.
Robinson said: “It has become clear that we needed to diversify and develop a regional brand to sustain professional Rugby League.
“We have had limited opportunities to grow the club and needed to seek out new opportunities to grow the game and business. We needed to bring the game together across the region with the focus of the new club being a regionalised brand and club.
“Local clubs across the Midlands will recognise the name as the Hurricanes was the original name for the elite player pathway run by the RFL for a number of years in Loughborough. Now the club will relaunch this new flagship brand to lead the game forward into the future.
“Coventry Bears will continue to function under our Bears in the Community Foundation. The Bears will play in the Midlands regional competition with young local players in 2022 and continue to develop new junior satellite clubs across the West Midlands with current new junior clubs the Alphas, Knights and Griffins to support and underpin the Midlands Hurricanes professional development.”
It goes without saying that without major investment this project would not have been possible in current times and after only one meeting this was found in Mike Lomas of Big Red Construction who will become chairman of the new Hurricanes club and be co-owner alongside Alan Robinson who will lead the club as CEO.
“I approached Mike through a mutual connection as a new sponsor to assist us in our campaign,” Alan Robinson added.
“I presented the Hurricanes concept and he could see the benefit it would bring the game so after some discussion we decided to take it forward together and create a new parent company with both of us at the helm.
“This could allow us to continue to build the Coventry Bears legacy while reaching for the sky with the Hurricanes and grow the sport to new heights in the area. Mike shared my vision which could be the opportunity to build a sustainable brand for the expansion of the game and harness the power of a region with the whole sport behind us.”
Mike Lomas will now join Robinson as a new shared owner of the new club and had this to say about the new concept: “When the concept of the Midlands Hurricanes presented itself, I was immediately excited about the opportunity. As a passionate Rugby League fan, I believe the Midlands Hurricanes will, without a doubt, assist the expansion of Rugby League. The Midlands represents a large population of the United Kingdom and I fully believe that growing the sport in this area is paramount to the overall success of the game. Working alongside Alan is an absolute pleasure, his passion and professionalism running Coventry Bears for over 20 years is astounding and I am confident that the Midlands Hurricanes will be in good hands under his leadership.
“At Big Red we have a mantra ‘nothing is impossible’ and this certainly embodies this core belief.”
