It seems that everyone has a podcast these days, but would you expect to find one covering grassroots rugby in the North Wales area? No? Well, look again.
Lewis Barker can usually be found playing for English Championship side Caldy RFC. Sometimes, however, the 29-year-old is recording and editing the GogPod, a podcast dedicated to covering everything grassroots rugby in his home of North Wales.
He admits that it’s rather niche, but he has been bowled over by the reception the series has had since its debut when he and a couple of friends first sat in front of a microphone.
“We have had about 30,000 downloads,” Lewis told Fen Regis Trophies. “That’s about a thousand per episode.
“We have a good following on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. It’s not for [making money], but if we can grow it – and we have got loads of ideas – we can do different bits.”
Growing up in an “Historical Rugby Town”
Lewis hails from the “historical rugby town” of Mold in North Wales, where he first picked up a rugby ball at four years old. “I started very young in the minis and junior sections,” he said.
“At one point,” Lewis continued. “It was the biggest mini and junior section in Wales. It was a good place to start.”
Like many young Welsh boys, it was his father who introduced him to the game. Though Barker Sr was a keen footballer, he was no stranger to playing with a rugby ball and Lewis, who supports Chester FC, had a decision to make between the two sports.
“I couldn’t really make my mind up,” he admitted. “It is quite a common theme in North Wales because North Wales predominantly is a footballing region.”
By 16, Lewis opted to follow his passion for rugby and signed academy forms with Rygbi Gogled Cymru (RGC), the representative side for North Wales. His journey had officially begun.
Dreams of Going Back
Playing in this English second-tier for Caldy, Lewis is living out his rugby dream. He has successfully made a career from the sport he loves, playing at a higher level than most could ever hope and capturing a few rugby medals along the way.
Lewis, though, does still have one more box to tick on his rugby bucket list remaining, which he hopes he can do before he plans on retiring in the next four to five years.
“My dream has always been to go back and play for Mold,” he said. “I made two appearances for the senior team.
“Mold is the team I played for until I was 16, so to go back and give them a few years would be great.”
The GogPod
Lewis has always remained true to his roots and that shines through when speaking with him about the GogPod, the podcast he co-founded to shed light on everything rugby in North Wales.
Alongside Callum Bennett and William Morecombe, Lewis started the podcast in 2022. In July 2023, Lewis lost a co-host and a dear friend when William passed away following a short illness.
“He was kind of the leader,” Lewis said of William. “A lot of ideas came from him.”
The GogPod has continued, with the addition of Richard Hopkins as co-host, and the mission remains the same, to give grassroots rugby in North Wales the coverage it would otherwise be lacking without the series.
“We wanted to do something,” said the Caldy back. “We saw there was a gap in the market. There was not a lot of footage and not a lot of information about grassroots rugby in North Wales.
“There are 25 teams playing rugby in North Wales, but there are a lot of places where you don’t know who’s playing on the weekend.
“We thought it would be great to do a podcast first and foremost, to get to use some of our contact and get people talking about North Wales rugby, but to also use social media as a bit of a platform where people can see results and fixtures.”
You can listen to the GogPod on streaming platforms such as Spotify and Apple Podcasts, as well as follow the podcast on Twitter/X and Instagram.
By Aaron Gratton
