South Wales Jets have launched a new arm to their club, the West Wales Jets who will be based in the Amman Valley in Carmarthenshire.
This side will give players and fans located west of Swansea the chance to play and support rugby league for the first time in a few years.
Their proposed new men’s side and junior sides will look to join the JES Rugby League Conference for the 2025 season and whilst the sides will be a part of the parent club – who are based in the Caerphilly County Borough – the West Wales Jets’ registrations will be as a separate entity.
The history of rugby league in the area goes back to the 1940s and 1950s when sides like Amman Valley and Llanelli played in a short-lived Welsh League. More recently, a club called Dinefwr Sharks ran in Ammanford from 2006-12 and the Gwendraeth Valley Raiders, based in Mynydd y Garreg replaced them in 2014, winning WRL junior titles before turning semi-professional as West Wales Raiders for a few years.
Jets’ chairman Liam Price said: “I’m really happy to be taking the Jets to where I grew up in the Amman Valley. The talent available in that area is amazing and with the help of the community and the right organisation, rugby league in the area can thrive.”
South Wales Jets are just two seasons old and already they’ve broken a lot of ground, reaching two successive Welsh Grand Finals, winning the first of them in 2023, and only losing two competitive matches in their history.
Last year, the club launched their junior set up with nearly 200 players taking part and nearly 60 percent of them brand new to rugby league.
And Price believes that he can now bring in over a hundred new players into rugby league in West Wales.
“The idea is to strengthen the player pool in the area,” he said. “It’s all about bringing new players in, both senior and junior, giving them the chance to play a new sport and also of course to take the Jets brand further west.
“Everyone knows that we need a semi-professional rugby league club back in South Wales and that’s going to take time. We don’t want to rush into things, we’ve seen the errors of the past, but strengthening our player pool and brand will certainly help our case in the future.
“For now, it’s about giving men, boys and girls in Carmarthenshire the chance to play a fantastic sport, plus we’ve not ruled out a women’s or wheelchair side either should the call for those sides arise.
“We will certainly be putting out expressions of interest for all players, all ages, all genders and we’ll go from there.”