Dursley Rugby Football Club
Dursley R.F.C.
Registered as a Community Amateur Sports Club CASC since 2004
Latest News
Chairman’s Update April 2022
22nd April 2022
As many of you will know I took over from Simon Bilous as chairman of Dursley RFC at the last AGM in December. Simon has done an incredible job over his 13 years as Chair and it’s a very hard job to follow him. I’ll try hard not to mess it up ! I’ve been in the chair for a few months and thought now was a good time to have an update on where the club is and how we want to progress.
Firstly, this season has been a phenomenal success for the men’s teams. The first team went unbeaten all season in the league with 22 wins out of 22! The second team has also performed very well and are an extremely creditable 4th in their league with just a few games left to play. We will be fielding 3 teams in the combination cups, starting this weekend with the Nomads taking on Wotton – so come along and support them, kick off 3pm. We are looking forward to seeing how all the teams perform in those games.
And then to the ladies. What can I say? They have gone from strength to strength this season currently standing at 3rd in their league and now have a very strong squad of players, a great coaching set up and always have a smile on their faces whenever I watch them! Because let’s be honest, we play this wonderful game because it’s fun!!
If you’ve ever had the opportunity to visit on a Sunday morning you can only have been uplifted by the enthusiasm and the skill levels of all the young players from 3 to 16. We’ve had many juniors go on to represent the district, the county and even their country. But the true success of the club is measured by the enjoyment and camaraderie. We strongly advocate sport for all at Dursley RFC.
With over 300 young people training and playing every Sunday supported by over 50 adult volunteers, Dursley RFC has one of the most popular junior rugby sections in the county. And this is now shown in our senior men’s sides with the vast majority of the players being products of the mini and youth section of the club. Over the weekend when our 1st team played their last league game of the season and our seconds were away to St Mary’s Old Boys the mini and youth section had produced 29 of the 39 players !
We have had members of our U15s and 16s squads selected to represent the Developing Player Pathway and hopefully this will lead to greater representative honours for many of them. In the younger age groups all have taken part in both our own club and also the county run festivals and had a lot of success as well as even more fun. Numbers continue to grow with children from many different primary and secondary schools (often trying rugby for the first time) but everyone embraces the one team ethos that we have here.
Now whilst this is a wonderful situation to be in there is no doubt in my mind that this hasn’t happened overnight. The players all recognise that many of themhave had a terrific education in rugby through our mini and youth section, the management team of the men’s rugby section has worked extremely hard over the pandemic to keep members engaged (let’s not forget their stupendous fund-raising efforts for charity). The coaching set up now tries to bring more of the colts through to play senior rugby and it is very pleasing to see some of this year’s colts starting on a Saturday. So,my point is that the coaching at all levels, with the ethos of playing the game in the right way is paying dividends. Play hard, play as a team and play fair has always been our way. Well done and congratulations to every member of the club wide team that has made this happen – all please take a bow!
So, if you want to join us then we have rugby for everyone. All ages from 3 years up to 93. Men, Women, Boys and Girls. I have joined the walking rugby sectionmyself, many of you are enjoying the touch rugby sections and there is always room for more of you.
We also have places for coaches, for team managers, for fund raisers, for club officials, for maintenancepeople, for car parkers, treasurers, first aiders, painters and decorators – regular or whenever you can. Just ask one of the committee members.
So, what about the club progress. Many of you will have been involved in the tree planting recently led so well by Angus McCubbin. For which a big thank you to you all. We have purchased 6 acres of land behind the front pitch and have now replaced the hedge in order to get the field the right shape for our needs. This land will be slowly developed (as funds allow) so that we can move all our training off the main pitches. This will mean that our pitches can be far better managed over the winter to have better surfaces. On that score we have recently contracted our own land management team to improve all our playing surfaces and this new land. This all costs money unfortunately and so our fund raising team will be looking at ways to raise a bit more cash to pay for it. If you’d like to join them then they would be delighted to see you. For example, we are looking to bring back our very popular summer ball and beer festival but only if we can get the team together to make that happen.
On other progress, Angus has agreed to look at a few more environmental projects. With the price of electricity and gas going up so much his first task will be to look into renewable energy for the club by installing solar panels on the roof. If you can help with this, then please give Angus a call (particularly if you can save us money !!)
So, in signing off let me leave you with this message. Don’t ask what the club can do for you but ask what you can do for your club! This club is one team – it is one of the best teams I have ever been involved in, please join this team to make it even better.
Phil Sprague
Club Chair Dursley Rugby Football Club
