SOUTHWARK
SOUTHWARK
Southwark Rugby Club is based on Cobourg Road in London and competes in the
Shepherd Neame Kent 1 London and South East Division. Club Representative Ben
Hammond took the time to tell us about how the club is getting along ahead of the new
season.
Involvement
He told us, “I have been at the club since
moving to London in 2010, and was
attracted to them having watched them
train in the middle of Clapham Common,
the facilities were poor, yet guys were
training hard for the sheer enjoyment of
rugby, and showed a willingness to work
and push the club forward as it entered
its first years in the RFU Leagues.
Getting back to the roots of rugby was
a goal of mine and seeing a team that
I could help on and off the pitch was
appealing to me.”
The Role(s)
“The most challenging aspects have
been ensuring the club has had adequate
funding to continue every year, whilst we
receive membership fees from players
it’s never enough to cover the costs of
running a club side that runs 3 teams
every weekend let alone enable us to
improve the club every year.
The costs of coaching, pitch hire,
lighting and other sundries all add
up. And without the kind help of our
sponsors James Gibson and the rest of
the Big Yellow Group and Chris Brain of
Standage building solutions and LFS,
Southwark Rugby wouldn’t have been
able to grow year on year.
The most rewarding aspect has been
seeing how the club has progressed
over the last 4 years; we have improved
the playing side year on year and seen
promotion from Kent 2 to Kent 1 and even
a Kent cup final appearance, which has
been achieved through the development
off the field; more coaches, structured
twice a week training sessions as well as
a stronger marketing presence aimed at
bringing more players to the field.”
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