Barrow Raiders head coach Paul Crarey has reflected on the achievements of the 2022 season and the growth of the club following a successful 12 months in the Betfred Championship.
Crarey guided the Raiders to a fourth-placed finish in the league, earning him the 2022 Betfred Championship Coach of the Year award.
The success did not stop there, as the Raiders were crowned Betfred Championship Club of the Year in their first season back in the second tier.
Reflecting on the last year, Crarey said: “The club’s journey and what we set out to do is so impressive. We’ve grown the crowd, with huge efforts from Steve Neale and the board.
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“After everything we’ve put in place, to win Club of the Year and Coach of the Year shows what a journey it has been.”
Crarey stressed the importance and impact of homegrown talent last season, with Ryan Johnston, Jake Carter and Charlie Emslie among the players who stepped up to the Championship with confidence and made their mark on the squad.
“The big thing for us is we’ve found a lot of our own players,” the Raiders boss added.
“When we were in the Championship last time round, Johnston, Carter and Emslie were still teenagers. Now I’ve watched them go from boys to men.
“We’ve got to farm our own players. We won at Batley last season with 12 local players in the side, and when I came there was only one local player getting on the team bus, so we’ve turned that around and put pride into the shirt.”
Recent success has stretched to activities off the pitch too, as the club have made continuous progress over the last couple of years, in large part thanks to the fantastic work of the Advantage! Barrow Raiders Community Foundation.
Crarey admits that domestic accomplishments in the league last season are testament to the gradual development of the club, and believes the Raiders are heading in the right direction.
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“We took a few hits on the way and some people said I’d done my time, but I always say that coaching Barrow Raiders is not about winning or losing – it’s about the community.
“We’ve built bridges in the communities, with 20+ people on our coaching programme and over 180 kids signed up to the JETS programme.
“It’s not about the awards or the league position. For me, it’s about everything else that’s associated with the club, and where we’ve got to as a club and as a group.
“That’s what I’m proud about. I’m not proud because we won games; you get accolades because you win games, but it’s not what you achieve.
“It’s what you put in place for the future which matters.”
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