braintree
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Braintree
B
raintree Rugby Club is a great example of a club that is focused on providing a safe and enjoyable environment for
their community to enjoy the game. Their Chairman, Barrie Winwood recently took the time to tell Rugby Club
Magazine more about the good work they’ve been doing lately.
RC: How long have you been involved and what first
attracted you to the club?
BW: I went to a boarding school where we played rugby many
times a week, and later played for the Company I worked for.
I had stopped playing rugby in favour of marathons and half
marathons when we took our two boys to watch a friend’s
young son play for Braintree on a Sunday morning.
Our sons wanted to play, and within a matter of weeks I was
back playing and involved in coaching the children, while my
wife helped with everything off the pitch – registration, child
welfare and fund raising. That was 25 years ago, and we have
both been fully involved ever since.
RC: What are the most challenging and rewarding aspects of
your role?
BW: The most challenging aspect of our involvement is
running the Club as a business. This is absolutely essential,
as if you concentrate on just the playing side the finances may
suffer, and vice versa. The most rewarding aspect for me is a
successful 1st XV and a full club house. My wife, as Youth and
Minis Chairman, would say pitches full of children enjoying
their rugby on a Sunday morning.
RC: How’s the general mood down at the club at the moment?
BW: The general mood in the club is very buoyant at the
moment after the struggles of the 1st XV over the last couple
of years. We were doing really well with promotion to London
1 but with a few key players retiring and not enough youth
players coming through due to the loss of the top Youth age
group, we began to struggle.
Last year, whilst at the bottom of North East 2 we decided
we needed time to regroup and enjoy our rugby again, and
in order to do that we needed to drop down two leagues. We
are now in Essex One and back competing, and the mood in
the club has definitely improved. We have stopped the gap in
our Youth section by creating an Academy side for Under 17s
and 18s which is doing very well, and through this we will be
able to bring players on into senior rugby at the right time and
pace.
RC: How would you say the off-season has gone for the club?
BW: Off season we have had good numbers at training, and
events such as our Matthew New Charity Sevens and Family
Fun Day with touch rugby has brought people along to the club
outside the season. We have also completed the refurbishment
of our ladies and gents toilets, and put in a splendid new bar.
There have been quite a few new players joining throughout
the summer months, especially in the Youth & Mini section.
70 Issue 58
“Youth rugby is essential to our
Club. You just have to count the
number of ex-Youth players in
the 1st XV to realise without a
doubt that without the Youth
coming through we would not
have a Club. “
www.pitchero.com/clubs/braintreerugbyunionfootballclub - Twitter : @BraintreeRugbyC