derby
half time, sometimes by quite a sizeable margin. We
do not think this is a fitness issue, more one of mental
toughness to finish the game off. There are 5 teams
clear of the rest in Midlands 1 East. Our aim is to finish
top of the trailing group.”
Youth
“Youth rugby is vitally important as it is via this
mechanism we expect to fill most places in our senior
sides in the future. We have put in place resources
aimed specifically to assist in this, i.e. people that
stay in that role rather than move in and out of the
role as their own team progresses. This has proved
worthwhile already and will continue to do so in the
future.
The Colts set-up is well organised and, although
suffering with numbers this season, provides a good
environment for that transition by playing matches
whenever possible on Saturday rather than Sunday
and hence the Colts are mixing with the senior players
rather than being an addendum to the Mini and Junior
section.”
Challenges/Ambitions
“One of our biggest challenges for us will be
maintaining our excellent facilities as they start to
age whilst continuing to try to achieve the best league
position we can in a sustainable manner. When the
leagues re-structure after next season, our ambition
is to ensure we achieve level 5 (this will be a 50/50
mix roughly of current level 5 and 6 clubs in our
geographical area) and remain at that level or possibly
higher. Realistically we know it would cost a lot more
money than we currently put aside for rugby costs to
be promoted to the league above.”
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