Rugby clubs

DELHI HURRICANES RUGBY CLUB INAUGURATION OF RUGBY ACADEMY

Following up on my interest in rugby in India and particularly rugby in the Delhi area I am pleased to report that Delhi Hurricanes Rugby Club is going from strength to strength. The people behind the Delhi Hurricanes are working very hard in promiting rugby in Delhi and their latest venture is starting a rugby academy. It is set to become a very fun day and if anyone wants to find out more or wants to get involved then please get yourself there.

Inauguration of Hurricanes Rugby Academy on 31st July, 2011

On the behalf of Delhi Hurricanes Rugby Football club, I invite you for the Inauguration of Hurricanes Rugby Academy on 31st July 2011. I sincerely believe that you can make difference to this event I sincerely request you to attend this event & make it huge.

Join Delhi Hurricanes facebook page by clicking here.

Southwark Rugby Club & the Lancers

Southwark Rugby Club & the Lancers

Looking back it was a strange decision to start playing rugby after 15 years of inactivity but I can honestly say that I have loved every minute of playing again over the past 4 years, I only wish that I had continued to play whilst I was at school. The catalyst to strapping on my boots had been the fact that as a business we wanted to sponsor a rugby team but had no real allegiance to anyone in particular. I decided to watch a local match and immediately knew that I would love to get involved with rugby again.

Not content with just wanting to play again I decided that the team we would sponsor would be one of our own creation. To this day I really cannot accurately describe how or why this decision was made but the club has just finished it’s 3rd full season.

Having contacted the RFU and asked for advice on setting up a club they pointed me in the direction of a junior team in inner city London who had been running for 5 years but had no senior team for the children to progress to. I met Vernon Neve-Dunn (founder of the Southwark Tigers www.southwarktigers.org) in the unfamiliar surroundings of Burgess Park which is situated just off the Old Kent Road and a million miles away from the leafy surroundings that you would normally associate with rugby. His brilliant vision had been to create a club for children who would otherwise never have come into contact with a rugby ball.

November 2007 saw the very beginnings of the Southwark Lancers, 4 friends throwing around a rugby ball on a cold Saturday morning in Burgess Park, nothing at all inspirational but a start. Friends of friends started to join and some replies to adverts meant that we had a motley crew of players ready for our first season playing in the Kent Metropolitan Merit Leagues. In fact we had managed to put together a useful team, many of whom had been out of the game for a number of years and had been keen to get back into the game. Our attractiveness was our central London location that can be reached in 10 minutes from Elephant & Castle tube.

We were pipped to top spot by Beckenham in our first season but managed to get promotion. At the beginning of our second season we had enough players for two teams, we were also approached by Niall O’Doherty who wanted to get involved with the club and who became our full time coach. We saw an immediate return and the 09/10 season saw us go undefeated and gain promotion mid way through the season.

Season 10/11 witnessed the club entering the proper national league structure and taking their place in Kent 2. We finally started to find our feet after the first couple of matches and strung some good results together ultimately finishing in 4th position.

This coming campaign will see us pressing for promotion but also looking to get our club structure in place. We rent our pitch from the council and at the moment we train once a week, the club has no club house (the excellent local pub is more than sufficient) and manages to field 3 full teams. I have been utterly shocked by the great success of the club and we hope to improve each year. It is a harsh reality that at grass roots level, participation is down and many clubs are folding so I continue to hope that Southwark Rugby Club will continue to buck the trend.

Whether you want to play or not Southwark Rugby Club are always looking for new players and social members. If you want to join a vibrant, friendly and welcoming club in Southwark please contact:

Chris Callaway on 07740419539

Email: info@southwark-lancers.co.uk

website: www.southwarkrugby.co.uk

Do You Want To Play Rugby In Delhi India

Hello All I have been encouraged lately about the number of people who have contacted me about playing rugby in Delhi. I seem to have a number of people asking where there is a club and how do they join. I have a contact at Delhi Hurricanes Rugby Club and hence if anyone want to play in Delhi then please use the contact details below.

Delhi Hurricanes rugby club normally train twice a week on Thursdays & Sundays.  For the confirmation of the time, u can call the following people.
Vicky  – 9818440814
Pulkit  – 9873786001

Also for general information regarding the club and sponsorship opportunities or just ways to get involved with the fastest growing sport in india then contact the person below.

President: Mr. Kuldeep Singh Bist (Kally)

Contact Number: 9999353722
Email ID: kallylomu@hotmail.com

You can join their facebook group also on the following link………

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=32106771274

http://www.freewebs.com/delhihurricanes/

A Day Out at Berliner Rugby Club in Germany

Finally, I have a weekend in Berlin. As is my lifestyle in Berlin, I got up on Saturday morning and I have no work, excellent so i can lay here and snooze for a bit longer. However though I have a fully functioning kitchen i have yet to use any of it due to the great value eating out in this great city. I can rarely afford to sit indoors for very long as I get hungry and have to get out.

During my time In Berlin working I made good friends with an Irish lad from Dublin, who I spent a lot of time with as we were both new to the city. So the clock hit 11.00am and I could go no longer to wait for my morning cup of tea and most importantly breakfast. A quick text to Ian (my new Irish Mate) and I was off on the U-Bahn to meet him at Charlottenberg which incidentally was the capital of West Berlin before unification of East and West Germany.

The plan was to get breakfast and make our way over to watch some Rugby which was not too far from here. We took a walk and ruled out all the possibilities for brunch until we passed an Irish Pub called the Irish Harp In Charlottenberg. We decided to go here as my Friend Ian felt really at home in these places. I ordered a Guinness and asked for the menu.  I was feeling adventurous and decided on a “Irish Breakfast, you can imagine my disappointment when it arrived. Now don’t get me wrong but Sausage, egg, bacon, beans and toast and English tea is pretty much the same as an English breakfast. Irish or English it was a great breakfast and I learned the Irish have the same breakfast as the English therefore it was a Irish/English Breakfast.

After downing two pints of Guinness we decided it was time to leave for the Game. A game between Berlin second team and Hamburg first team.

We arrived at the game on time. There was quite a crown for a second team game I thought and especially for Germany. However the standard of rugby was pretty good and on show were mostly German players however there were a number of British players playing for both teams along with a few Samoans and New Zealanders. The Game was won by Berliner rugby club but the outstanding player on the field that day was the fly half for Hamburg who we later found out was a student on some sort of exchange program from Northern Ireland.

After the game we were invited to have a beer but we declined and headed back to the Irish harp for more beer and food. I now noticed by a poster on the wall of the Berliner Rugby team and later learned that the Irish Harp are in fact sponsors of Berliner Rugby Club. And this is their main watering hole and thus we drank a few more Guinness’s had a chat with a few of the rugby boys who happened to be New Zealanders and off we went. The rest of the night was a blur so can’t report on that.

All in all a rather different rugby day for me but enjoyable and am glad that I can enjoy rugby wherever I go regardless of the standard of rugby it’s just a case of digging around and finding what’s out there are hoping there is a fixture you can attend.

That’s it now for Germany, my 2 months here are done and now back to Rugby in England and looking forward to the Summer touch rugby tournament at Letchworth Rugby Club and Looking forward to Helping out at Little Ruggers a sports development club for children aged 2- 6 years.

Ex-England Players Back O2 Rugby Reunion in Newcastle

An initiative that we at Rugbyclubman.com thoroughly approve of is getting more lapsed rugby players playing rugby again. From my experience there are lots of them out there.  If you have been out of Rugby for a while it can drop to the back of the mind and before long rugby is often even considered a possible alternative to going shopping on Saturdays. Sometimes all that is needed is for someone to plant the seed in the mind of these lapsed players and make them realise that a run out on a saturday could be the escape they are looking for. So it is the duty of all rugby club members to plant the seed in as many minds as we can. So everyone get on those phones and start getting those legendary teams back together again and get involved.

As a start join O2 Rugby Reunion this summer and make the comeback to end all comebacks. It’s time to put the old team back together and get back out there. Each event has food, drink, competitions, prizes and England players present.

Along with former England player Mike Catt, Rob Andrew, one of the North East’s favourite rugby sons, is backing Newcastle as the perfect venue for this weekend’s launch of the O2 Rugby Reunion campaign, a nationwide initiative supported by the Rugby Football Union (RFU) to encourage players that have drifted away from rugby to reconnect with the game and their friends.

For more details and to get involved, check out the Rugby Reunion application on Facebook.

“The North East has a great reputation for welcoming visitors and providing them with a tremendous social environment and that should tie in perfectly with the O2 Rugby Reunion theme.” says the former Newcastle Falcons fly-half and Director of Rugby who is now England’s Elite Rugby Director.

“I think the O2 and RFU efforts to keep people in touch and involved in the game is a really good idea and the launch of the programme at Ryton RFC on the outskirts of Newcastle is an ideal choice.

“When any of us look back on our careers, memories of the early days and the characters we played with always remain vivid and precious. Ironically, while the 16/24 age group which this project caters for is probably the most vulnerable, it is also the period in which RU players get most out of the game and the friendships it generates.

Reunite old rugby friends

“The touch rugby festivals in the O2 Rugby Reunion programme offer a perfect opportunity for schoolmates to rekindle the rugby spark and the use of facebook as a means of pulling teams together is a smart piece of thinking.

“I’m sure Newcastle, the capital of fun and social interaction for a while now, will ensure that the O2 Rugby Reunion series will get away to a great start.”

Teams have been invited to take part in one or more of a series of touch rugby events across the UK, culminating in a finale event, ‘The Big one’ in London on September 12, but more importantly, the project is aimed at bringing together players and pals who has drifted apart.

Aimed at reigniting players’ passion for rugby, O2 Rugby Reunion not only uses facebook to reconnect players with their old teams, but also offers an enrollment on the day option for teams who want to turn up and play.

A captain can register a team and interest in a specific touch rugby event, send invites to friends and confirm attendance at the event(s) once a minimum of six team members have been recruited. Teams can then opt to take part in either the ‘fun’ or ‘competitive’ category for their local event.

The programme is aimed at the 16/24 age group, where, because of further education and employment issues, it is easy for players to become detached and lose contact with the game and their former teammates.

The RFU has an O2 Pathfinder scheme in place which seeks to provide an aftercare and tracking mechanism once players move from the clubs and schools where they learned the game and O2 Rugby Reunion offers a chance for friends to get together again and have a run out.

Registration on Saturday opens at 10.00am, with the tournament getting underway after a team briefing scheduled for 11.00am. In keeping with the mood of the event, efforts will be made to accommodate all teams and individuals who share in the spirit of the O2 Rugby Reunion, even if their arrival is delayed.

And if Newcastle is out of your parish, why not get the ball rolling now and enter one of the remaining regional events. They are:

London, Old Deer Park – Saturday 31st July
Bristol, Portway Centre – Saturday 7th August
Manchester, Broughton Park RFC – Saturday 14th August
Coventry, Coundon Hall Park – Saturday 21st August
Dorset, Oakmedians RFC – Sunday 29th August
To register a team via facebook simply search online for ‘O2 Rugby Reunion’ – and start getting in touch with your rugby mates from yesteryear.

For further information on the Newcastle event please contact:
Tom Wilkinson on 07894 489096
Dave Reed on 07736 517728

Go Play Touch Rugby And Some Touch Rugby Videos

Touch Rugby

Now that the Summer is allegedly here and the Rugby season is over its time to think about keeping active during the summer and keep in shape for the new season. Touch rugby is a fantastic way to keep fit without the contact and anyone can play.

Touch is one of the fastest growing sports in England, played by people of all ages and skill levels. Introduced from the Southern Hemisphere in the 70’s, touch is a fast, evasive, non-contact form of rugby. Touch is one of the few team sports where men and women compete on teams together not only socially but at an international level. There are currently approximately 12,000 people playing touch in organised leagues around the UK.

It’s a non contact version of the game and is thus much simpler to learn and to play as there is no tackling, scrummaging, rucking, mauling, lineouts or kicking. It’s a fun game and is ideal for beginners to get to grips with the basics In fact, it’s a great way to work on your running, handling and dodging skills.

In Australia and New Zealand there are more registered touch players than the 15-a-side game and this trend is set up to be the case in the UK.

A touch rugby tournament hosted by Letchworth Rugby Club in Hertfordshire UK. This annual Summer touch tournament starts Wednesday 2nd June 2010. This is the fourth year of the Letchworth Touch tournament and every year it grows from strength to strength. Most of the teams are made up of members of Letchworth Rugby Club however teams from other clubs and organisations are invited and welcomed. In recent years there has been teams drawn from the RAF, various football teams, teams of parents from the junior and mini sections, Veterans, as well as current players from Letchworth including junior teams older than under 14s and girls sections.

The touch tournament is a fantastic success for Letchworth Rugby Club and the growth and popularity of rugby in general. It enables players, parents, coaches and to socialise and get to know each other and creates a cohesion within the club that otherwise would not be there. It has been known to enticed some to dig out there boots from the loft and start playing again.

In addition to these positives, it also helps the club with takings over the bar, raises the profile of rugby in the local area and most of all it attracts more potential players to the game, which is excellent for the game overall.

This annual touch tournament starts Wednesday 2nd June and of 10 at £100 per team. You will receive free team t-shirts and there will be a big Finals Party with a barbecue and fun for all!

It’s a real family day and families are encouraged to come along and join in.

An excellent idea for any club wanting to increase membership and raise the profile of their club and get more people discovering how fun and great exercise touch rugby is. Perhaps you would like to start a similar tournament over the summer, its a win win situation for any club willing to hold a summer touch rugby tournament. So if you fancy keeping fit and trying out touch rugby get in contact with your local rugby club and see if they have touch rugby during the summer.

A Short video explaining how to play rugby. There are variations to the rules played however the basics of touch rugby are explained here.

A video of some some touch rugby being played in New Zealand. This is the standard we must get up to, well maybe not yet but with more tournaments and touch rugby leagues, maybe we will get there.

Clips from the Dawgsouljahz touch team at the whakatane touch tounament in New Zealand.

Rugby World Magazine, Are You Their Team of The Year?

Rugby World

I though that some of you may be interested in this. Rugby World Magazine are running a competition for junior clubs and this includes Europe. So my European friends get writing them emails now, I know as a fact there are many worthy teams out there.

With these things its usually the clubs that that can be bothered to write that win the prizes and the deserving teams never seem to win. Thats because no one takes the time to write. Lets correct this now.

Good Luck

taken from Rugby World magazine.

Are You Our Team of the Year?

It’s time for the big one. If you’ve had a season to remember, email alan_pearey@ipcmedia.com to tell us why you deserve to be the Rugby World Team of the Year. The award is aimed at junior clubs in Europe and the winning team will receive 22 sets of team kit jersey, shorts and socks from Playmore! So email your nomination TODAY.

How To Increase Club Membership With One Easy Step

Having been to lots of rugby clubs in both UK and Europe, I have found that some clubs are more welcoming and have a better atmosphere than others. What are the ingredients for having a welcoming and friendly club? I will be looking into how you can make a simple change to increase playing, social members and sponsors.

During training nights a number of new players can turn up. This is a critical time for these new players because if they don’t get the right vibe then these players may not come back and some other club will have their services. Therefore it is important that their first impression of your club is a good one. All new players should be greeted and welcomed to the club the moment they arrive. This is not just the job of the club captain or coaches as they may not be around at the time. It is the duty of ALL players and all officials around at the time. Introduce them to the other players prior to commencement of training and then after training have a brief chat with them to ensure they enjoyed themselves and find out a little bit about them and their aspirations, regardless of there ability to pay in the first team.

This is just common sense, I hear you say, however I am surprised the number of players that have ended up at my club having previously trained with another local club, stating a negative experience at training, for example no one spoke to them. They were not made to feel welcome or just did not like the vibe. Any decent rugby club would have retained these players if they had just been more welcoming at training and it should not matter if they are first team potential or whether they are beginners as these guys will go on to be paid up members of the club if treated well. More members are better for the success of all teams and for the clubs coffers.

I visit lots of different rugby clubs around the country, when I am not at my local rugby club on a Saturday. This may be to visit family in another part of the country or on holiday somewhere. I will always pop down the local rugby club and have a couple of beers and watch a game of rugby, much to my wife’s annoyance. I was impressed with a particular club in the Midlands that I recently visited.

What did they do right? I was greeted first as I walked into the bar area by a man in a suit, who later turned out to be the chairman, we shook hands and he welcomed me and mentioned that he had not seen me down there before and I had a brief chat with him about the weather and the likelihood of a win for the home side and I made my way to the bar. Please bear in mind this was a match day there were lots of people about and I could have easily have gone in there and no one spoke to me all day as what has happened on a number of visits to other clubs. The chap behind the bar was very friendly too asking me if I was from the opposition and whether I was new to the area. I explained to him I am visiting the wife’s family and just popped out to watch a game. He called me a top man, always nice to know.

Again after the game I had a beer before I headed back to face the in-laws. During the course of the day the Chairman introduced me to a number of people I honestly felt at home here like I was talking to old friends. I walked away feeling I had made some good friends and most of all a very positive opinion of the club and if I had lived nearby they would definitely had me as a member. As I visit my in-laws from time to time, I have visited a number of clubs in that area and some are not as friendly as this particular club needless to say, I will be going back next time I am in the area, at least they have gained a supporter who knows may take my boots along and get a game with there vets team.

You should always be on the look out for new faces on match days and training and say hello to everyone and at least acknowledge them as I understand it can be a busy. The next new face you see down your club could well be a potential player, member or even a sponsor. Lots of potential players turn up on match days just to check out the vibe of the place and see if it’s a club they would like to play for, it’s important not to let these people leave with a negative view of your club and its important to get them onboard.

ALL club members are ambassadors of the club. There is no passing the buck and saying it’s not your job, it is your job it’s the job of all club members. It is very obvious and a simple concept but it seems some clubs just aren’t good at it and are losing potential players and members. So lets be more welcoming, lets get more players, supporters and sponsors into your rugby club and lets keep them, its as simple as saying “Hello” and a smile and if someone looks lost help them out, unless you are a club close to mine, then keep it up please, we like the steady flow of players from your clubs.

On the whole rugby clubs are in fact very friendly and unique places however unknowingly you can become so caught up in what you are doing and sometimes can overlook this very simple thing. I would welcome comments on this subject and if you have experienced unfriendly clubs let me know what made them unfriendly and why you never stuck around (please don’t name these clubs). If you are a club member then I would like to hear what you do to make your club more welcoming for potential players and members.

How a Rugby Club Should be Run?

I came across the following video whilst browsing youtube. It seems to be a promotional video for Havant Rugby Football Club who play in National League 3 South East which is the fifth tier of English rugby. It outlines some of its aims and ambitions for the future. I think that it gives a glimpse of a well run and ambitious rugby club. It shows what exactly a rugby club can offer its players of all age ranges from seven upwards, social members, sponsors and indeed the local community. Though this video is about a particular club, it’s no different to any other club. It shows what I believe to be how all rugby clubs should be run, with all the elements present to make a successful club on and off the pitch. So check it out.

An important issue that is raised in this video is that of paying players. I am not singling out Havant for this discussion, because most teams in the Havant’s league at level 5 will have a mix of paid players and local players and indeed I am sure some will pay all players, it is a sign of the times. I don’t think this is an issue at level 5 and above but in the leagues below it seems some clubs can be reluctant to admit it after all this is where it becomes a amateur game isn’t it?

Some clubs often get promoted with a good batch of players coming up through their youth systems combining with the experienced players in the club. Eventually this team will get as far as it can go with this set of players. Some clubs can even make it into the National leagues. What happens if some players go off to university or simply retire when you can see the club going through free fall through the leagues? I suggest at this point you decide what type of club you want to be as this is a big step for a non paying club as it maybe going against traditions, that’s if money is available or you can find ways of raising more funds though sponsorship deals and such like.

Some clubs will not see the opportunities available to raise more funds to bolster the squads and some clubs will decide that it’s against their principles. Some clubs will look to bolster their squad in a bid to stop a steady decline back down the leagues, this move will probably change the club forever.

If you have a team made up solely of paid players that come to training and game on a Saturday then straight after the game they shoot off to “a dinner party” then this can be detrimental on the rest of the club. Those players that are playing in the lower teams may not get to know any of the first team socially, this can then create cliques in your club with members of these other teams becoming resentful. If you get just a couple of paid players in then this could cause resentment “if they are being paid, why aren’t we?” So what is the answer? Insist these guys stick around after the game for at least a couple of drinks, it helps.

Decide what type of club you want to be. If you want to watch/play a good standard of rugby at level 5 and above, and maintain it, then paid players will be present at some stage in your club. It is important that you take a balanced approach and not let other sections of your club suffer such as the players in the lower teams and youth and mini sections as this is the lifeblood of any successful club.