Rugby Club Issue 54 | Page 26

datchworth FOLLOW US ONLINE TWITTER.COM/RUGBYCLUBMAG Datchworth B ased at Datchworth Green, Knebworth in Hertfordshire, Datchworth RFC currently competes in the London 3 North West League. They are led by Chair Neal Jeromson who is supported by Secretary Diane Wyatt and the club has been progressing well under their guidance. Datchworth RFC was first established in 1969 and since then they have gone on to put together a history of which they have every right to be proud. The initial team was formed by a set of players and made up of a group who played at school as well as some people switching codes from Association Football. Nick King played a key role in this process and went on to become the first Captain of the club. Their first fixture was played against Old Grammarians. Their current group of players will be keen to add to their previous successes in the coming years. This season their first team has put together a solid league campaign, compiling a record of twelve wins and ten defeats from their twenty two matches. This saw them finish in the top half of the league with 59 points on the board. With the season now complete they can reflect on what was generally a positive showing over the course of the year. This should provide them with the perfect 26 Issue 54 platform from which to build as they look ahead to their 2015/16 campaign and with a couple of quality additions they should be able to push on up the table. One of the standout features of the Datchworth 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 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 looking to be successful over a sustained period of time to be able to produce their own talent and this is an area they appear to have covered. It will certainly be exciting to see how their juniors can progress in the coming years. In order to help ensure that these players enjoy a smooth transition into the senior game they also have additional sides in place. This allows them to gain experience of adult level rugby even if they are not yet considered ready for first team action which can be an important step in the development process. Another benefit of having additional 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. There is much to admire about Datchworth RFC and the progress they have been making in recent times. Hopefully they will be able to keep up the good work for many years to come and everyone at Rugby Club Magazine wishes them the best of luck. www.pitchero.com/clubs/datchworth