HEATHFIELD & WALDRON
HEATHFIELD &
WALDRON
Heathfield and Waldron RFC is based at the Hardy Roberts Recreational Ground in East
Sussex and they currently compete in the London 3 South East Division. They are led
by the team of Chairman Dave Rhodes and President Paul Wilson and are looking to
progress under their guidance.
The club has a history of which they
have every right to be proud, having first
been established in 1979 when a set of
teachers at Heathfield Community College
recognised that a number of their students
had the ability and interest to make it
worthwhile putting a team together.
During their early existence the club was
without a home but they did eventually
settle in the barn at the Blackboys Inn.
They have certainly come a long way
since then although some players from
that period are still involved with the club.
It would be fair to say that their first team
endured a difficult campaign last time
around as they put together a record
of having won 2 and lost 20 of their 22
matches. This saw them finish bottom of
the table with 13 points on the board.
The team will be keen to put last season
behind them as quickly as possible and
have had a positive pre-season as they
prepare for the new campaign. So long as
they are able to retain their current group
of players and perhaps make one or two
quality additions they should be able to
achieve some more positive results.
One of the standout features of the
Heathfield and Waldron set-up is the
superb youth section that they have
in place. This part of the club looks to
provide young players from the local area
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with an opportunity to play the game in
a safe and enjoyable environment whilst
helping them to reach their full potential.
It is important for any club to be able to
produce their own talent, particularly in
the current financial climate and this is an
area that they appear to have covered.
It will certainly be exciting to see how
their juniors are able to develop over the
coming years.
In order to help ensure that their
youngsters enjoy a smooth transition
into the senior game the club also has a
number of additional sides running. This
allows them to give players experience
of the adult game even if they are not yet
considered ready for first team action.
Another benefit of having so many sides
is that it allows the first XV to benefit from
far greater strength in depth. If they are
ever left short on numbers through injury
or work commitments they have the option
of calling players up with a limited amount
of disruption.
Heathfield and Waldron’s disappointing
results last time around should not take
away from the superb work that the club
does in their local community. This is
thanks to all of the hard work that their
Committee puts into making the club a
success and hopefully they will be able
to continue in the same manner for many
years to come.