Wednesbury
Wednesbury
Ambitions
Wednesbury
Wednesbury RUFC is a club that is fully committed to playing an important role in their
local community. Club Representative David Hall took the time to tell us more about the
good work that they have been doing.
Involvement
He told us, “I have been playing for the rugby club
since I was around 15/16 years old. I didn’t have the
best of starts dislocating my knee in my first ever
training session!
I am now a regular 1st XV player and active club
member assisting our growing youth section
as well as helping co-ordinate the seniors with
fixtures etc. I made some great friends through
rugby and the team spirit and camaraderie is
fantastic, especially at Wednesbury Rugby Club,
home of the tallest rugby posts on the planet.”
Atmosphere
“The season was tough, with point deductions
and plenty of injuries; however the club is already
eagerly anticipating the new campaign. With
positive results in the 2nd half of the season and
a resurgence of the 2nd XV we are enjoying the
off season but excited to get into pre-season and
improve on league positions obtained this season
and the season before.”
Community
“We are perfectly placed in a well-known area of
Wednesbury meaning everyone knows who and
where we are (the record breaking posts help!) We
hire out our function room for community events
PROUD SUPPORTERS OF
Wednesbury RFC
Units A4 & A5,
Walsall Enterprise Park,
Regal Drive, WS2 9HQ.
TEL: 01922 721177.
74
ISSUE 45
as well as summer and Easter rugby camps. We
also have astro turf facilities which several local
football sides use to practice on.
with volunteering opportunities increasing the
member base of the club creating a more thriving
community.
Being a community rugby club we want to
enhance our local area by providing a great social
and communal area for the people of Wednesbury
to feel welcome so that they can socialise while
also being part of the rugby club and enjoying the
game of rugby.”
We work hard to ensure young players enjoy a
smooth transition into the senior game through
one to one coaching and mentoring of the player
in question. A “buddy system” also helps where
an established player in the squad works with the
new senior player.
At Wednesbury we are one club so the youth
players know the senior players and as a result
they are not suddenly playing on a team with
strangers.
Challenges
“Recruitment is still a massive challenge in our
area due to Sandwell being amongst the lowest
for sports participation in the country. However
through projects like the ‘All Schools’ programme
we have been able to increase our youth section
rapidly creating new teams and club members/
volunteers from it.
We are very much a community rugby club so one
of our challenges is to raise the profile of the club
in the community so that the community can feel
part of the rugby club and that it is an inclusive
club that you can play for volunteer for or just be
part of our growing supporters network and cheer
on the teams at the weekend.”
A real stand-out feature of the Wednesbury set-up
is the work that they do with young players and
Paul Hill gave us an insight into this part of the
club.
He said, “Youth rugby is very important to us. The
youth section is the future of the club and a great
way of bringing fresh faces in. We currently have
1st XV players who have progressed up from the
youth section. I strongly feel that without a strong
youth section a club cannot survive in the modern
game.
Having a youth section at the club also allows
players to pass on their knowledge to the players
of tomorrow. It is a great way of keeping retired
players involved in the sport through coaching
or the and also introducing parents into the club
We ideally would like to have a Colts team in the
future (something Wednesbury has never had)
but for now we are very happy with the progress
of our young guns and look forward to developing
more youth teams in the coming season.”
Club President Dave Bryant took the time to tell us
about his role and hopes for Wednesbury’s future.
He told us, “‘I have been involved in Wednesbury
RUFC for 34 years now, I have played at all levels
with the Club and played for 20 minutes in my
last Vets Game last Year at 50. I’ve held a number
of positions in the club, 1st and 2nd Team Captain,
Youth Coach and Chairman and most recently
Club President.
I played Rugby at school from the age of 11, so
Rugby has been a big part of my life. When I
left school my friend invited me to come to
Wednesbury and see what I thought, I enjoyed it
so much that I have not turned back since.
I got my second wind when I helped set up the
Youth Section at Wednesbury and this has been
my passion for the past 14 years. I now have a
fantastic Team of new Coaches and Committed
Parent Volunteers that has allowed me to look
towards my new challenge as Club President,
although I am still involved with the Youth they
are in the best hands for now and in the future.”
“We have had some great days at Wednesbury
and have competed against some of the biggest
Clubs in our area, winning the Intermediate Cup
on three consecutive years. Although we have
dropped a few leagues since, we still have an
excellent work ethic. We were most successful
when we had bespoke forwards and backs
Coaches and we now have a superb Coach in Tom
Huggins, but in the coming years I would like us
to have more Senior Coaches with specific tasks in
Training.
The Youth Section is growing well and will be
feeding players into the senior sides in a few
years. It is our ambition to have 2 more youth
sides and a Girls team. We now have 6 Girls and
are going to work with Warley RUFC to make up a
combined team which is very exciting.
From the Club aspect we need to improve our
facilities drastically and make the place a pleasure
to visit and hold functions. We have the space
and the potential to have one of the best venues
in the Midlands. So my other focus will be the
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