old elthamians
FOLLOW US ONLINE TWITTER.COM/RUGBYCLUBMAG
>>>Cont. from p.5 When you put that with the support of
Secure Trading behind the scenes it makes for a very successful
balance that we have here.
“We’ll finish the season relatively happy with where we are
but we all know that we could have done a little better in a
number of games which we were in a position to win so we’ll be
determined to improve on that
next season.
“That’s just a case of
having
a little extra mental
strength when it
comes to finishing
games off. With
this
season
behind us I
think a lot of
our
younger
players
will
have benefitted
from
the
experience and I
see no reason why
we can’t be pushing
for promotion if we
can find that level of
consistency.
“I’d like to add that it is a great
benefit for the
club to be closely associated with Eltham College. I think having
moved grounds this year and going back to the College will be
very successful because the facilities that we’ll have available to
us will be second to none this side of London.”
“It
is an
ambitious club with
a terrific Committee
behind it that are very
supportive of the
playing side”
Paul Moyse, Youth Coaching Co-ordinator
Old Elthamians youth section is vital to the way that the club
has progressed and with their minis section claiming the best
club in Kent award in three of the last six seasons it will continue
to provide them with a solid foundation. Youth Coaching Coordinator Paul Moyse told us more about their approach to
youth development.
“I started with the club as a parent when my boy joined and
he’s now playing in the U12s. I’m now the Youth Coaching Coordinator and it’s been a steep learning curve for me. I love the
enthusiasm and dedication of the people involved here.
“I’d played for a number of years locally and find the atmosphere
here to be totally unique. The level of commitment we’ve got
here is incredible with a fantastic group of smart, rugby people
that are all pulling in the same direction and that really shows in
the results we are achieving.
“There’s a really positive atmosphere here at the moment and
we’re going through a lot of changes with us moving to pastures
new. With the progress that we’ve made we had basically
outgrown our facility so we needed somewhere a little
bigger to cater for the numbers we now have. We’re going
back to Eltham College who have a terrific facility. The
area that we’re looking to use was bought originally
for the Brazilian football team to train on so as you
can imagine it really is impressive.
“There’s been a major focus on having a one club
ethos and there’s a synergy now between what
the seniors and the juniors are trying to achieve.
We’re making decisions now to the benefit of
everyone involved with the club and that can
only be positive for us moving forwards.
“Our next step will be to improve our academy
offering. We’ve a great junior section and a great
senior section and it’s just a case of improving the
bridge between the two now. The nearest professional
academy to us is Saracens and as that’s a fair distance
away I’d like us to develop our own elite academy.
“A lot of our youth teams have been very successful and we’re
Old Elthamians Under 14 Kent Cup and Kent
Champions 2014-15 season
really excited about the quality players that we have here. We’ve
built a reputation for being something of an elite club and that’s
largely down to the commitment and determination of the people
working behind the scenes to make the club a success. Basically
we want to continue to give young players in our community the
platform to go out and enjoy th eir rugby every week.”
Aaron Liffchak, Player/Coach for 2015/16
The progress the club has made is emphasised by the top quality
players that they can now attract with the signing of ex Saracens,
London Welsh and London Scottish forward Aaron Liffchak
recently announced. Aaron clearly couldn’t wait to get started
in his new role, saying, “The excitement around the whole club
was a real draw for me. They have a fantastic vision about how
they want to move forward and it’s an exciting place to be. It is
not just the players that they have coming in but the fact that
the backing behind the club from supporters, minis/juniors and
sponsors is top class.
“There’s a great set up right through the club which is a sign
of the good things to come. There’s a big buy in for the grass
roots rugby which is very important. A lot of clubs want to fly
through the leagues with other sections being forgotten but it’s
completely the opposite here and that’s something on a personal
level that’s very important.
“With my experience, hopefully I’ll be able to add to the current
pool and I am looking forwards to working with the group that
we have here. I’ll be able to add to the professionalism at the club
in order to help us get to the next level. Getting into National 2
and making it to National 1 is tough and it comes down to small
margins. Just tweaking a couple of little things here and there
h a s
the potential to make a real difference.
The biggest thing for me coming
here is to help the club progress.
There’s a commitment to
doing well and progressing
so I want to contribute
to that and help the
players and the set up
to improve. With the
fantastic facilities that
are being invested in,
it is a really positive
time to be involved
and everything is in
place for the whole
establishment to push
forwards.
One of the biggest
challenges with semiprofessional outfits is the
commitments players have
outside of playing for the club.
“We’re
very lucky to
have some top
players, coaches
and facilities”
12 Issue 53