Mark Mathias really enjoys his all-year round sport as he plays hooker in rugby for Neyland Youth, Pembrokeshire Youth and Milford Haven School (where he is first-team captain) and cricket for St Ishmaels as a promising young batsman throughout the summer.

 At 17 years of age he is currently undertaking his A Level studies in Mathematics, PE and ICT and eventually hopes to go somewhere like Cardiff University or Cardiff Metropolitan University to continue his studies.

Great team spirit at Neyland

Mark began his involvement in the oval ball game at Neyland when he was 16 because his school pals Callum Syme and Mitchell Roberts were already involved there and although it is a fair way to travel from the family home in St Brides he is full of praise for coach Steve Evans and the rest of the young All Blacks.

"We have a great team spirit," Mark told us,” and last season we reached the Griffiths Cup Final on our own pitch against Crymych with Ethan Mayhew, Eugene Grice, Scott and Jimmy Buirds all playing well for us.
"We lost out to Crymych and in this season's league matches they also beat us 24-13 but we have won all our other games against the likes of Narberth, Haverfordwest, Whitland, Pembroke and Pembroke Dock."

County selection after hard work

Mark's performances earned him selection for the Pembrokeshire under 18s under Johnny Llewellin and they train on Monday evenings under lights on the field in the centre of the running track at STP School.
"We play our games on Wednesday afternoons and we did so well early in the season that we were the first-ever Pembrokeshire team to make it into the Welsh National Division by beating the likes of Llandovery and Gwent College.

"The matches at that level are so much tougher," admitted Mark, "but it is a great experience to play against some really top hookers and I have enjoyed every moment so far, especially when we took on the Welsh Exiles at Swansea University."

Family matters – and great help from Steve

That Mark should like sport comes as no surprise because his father Stephen played as a prop for Haverfordwest and the County and was a keen player in Monmouth, whilst his grandfather David also played in the front row for The Blues and Pembrokeshire - and his cousin Matthew Roach plays second row for Ysgol y Preseli, Haverfordwest and Pembrokeshire.

Mark moved down from Shropshire three years ago and has worked really well in captaining the school team with the help of Steve Martin, who is the WRU hub officer there and doubles up as a top man at Neyland RFC after previously playing a number of years for Narberth as captain.

Started out in England before becoming a Junior Otter

Mark started out as a six year old playing tag rugby at Bridgenorth and eventually playing the full-contact stuff at Stourbridge. "I started out as a centre but I’ve filled out a bit since then," said Mark with a typical chuckle!

"When we moved to Pembrokeshire I originally played for Narberth at U14 and U15 levels, where we won the county cup competition with Ryan Conbeer as a key player and man of the match in the final.
"I enjoyed playing there but it meant loads of travel and so I decided to play nearer home - and have no regrets on that count."

Mark makes a cricket start in Pembrokeshire

It was a similar story on the cricketing front for Mark because he started out playing in the garden and then going to watch matches in Bridgenorth with his late grandparents, Margaret and Ted Baker, before gradually starting to play at Llanarth, near Chepstow.

"I actually used to keep wicket for a while," said Mark, "and then did a bit of bowling - but it is batting that is my favourite.

"When I came to Pembrokeshire it was mid-season and I played a few games at Burton, where I was made very welcome by the players.”

Joined Tish and settled in smoothly

But at the start of the next season Mark decided to play at nearby St Ishmaels, a decision he has never regretted because Wendy Bradshaw and Co have really looked after him so that he really enjoyed playing for a second team looked after by Kevin J Bowen and then in the first team by skipper Peter Bradshaw after he started to play a few games there.

"Robbie Thomas has also been a great help when I opened the batting with him and my top score so far is 75 not out against Neyland in the first game of the season; and I had another half century as well when we beat Johnston in the Alec Colley Cup.

Promotion with the seconds – and a first-team debut

"As the second team we won the fifth division with a few games still to go and it was nice that we were able to celebrate being promoted on the day that we had the carnival in Tish, which was very lively!"
Mark's performances also earned him a few games in the first XI under Peter Bradshaw and he had a couple of 20s to confirm his potential as a good Tish player of the future.

And finally . . .

Back on the rugby front, Mark still has one more season of youth rugby and would love to continue his association with the county set-up under Johnny Llewhellin during that time.

He is clearly enjoying himself at The Athletic Ground and has had a good season so far, culminating in a try against a strong Narberth side whom they beat 30-15.

"I'd like to say it was from long-range but to be honest I went over from about ten yards - and it made up for a real disappointment earlier in the same game when I thought I had scored a try as I chased a clever box kick by scrum half George Evans but the referee was distracted by a bit of a scrap on the other side of the pitch and so couldn't award me my try!"

When he finishes his sixth form studies Mark Mathias hopes to study engineering or sport at university and after chatting to such a mature and committed young fellow we are confident that whatever he chooses as his final option he is sure to make a success of it!