Orpington
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Orpington
RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB
O
rpington RFC is a club
that is making significant
strides
forward
both
on and off the field following a
disappointing season last year. Their
Chairman Dominic Clare took the time
to tell us more about the good work that
they have been doing lately.
members and they invited us to train and
play with them. They introduced us to the
social side of rugby and the rest is history.
Quite a few of those school friends remain
involved with the club and are still
playing regularly. I was 1st XV captain for
8 years (2003-2009 and 2010-2012) and am
now in my third year as Chairman.”
The fact that people are willing to
give up their time and effort to ensure the
future (and present) of the club is hugely
rewarding and any success we do have is
special because we know we have earned
it through our own hard work.”
Involvement
The Role
He told us, “I’ve been involved with
Orpington RFC since I was 16 (21 years).
I made my debut in the first team the
day before my 17th birthday and I’m still
playing now – just about! We initially
became involved wit h the club when
our school pitches flooded and we were
looking for somewhere to train.
We were spotted using the facilities
one evening by a couple of senior club
“The biggest challenge for any club
at our level is just to survive. The days of
every club running three sides at this level
are long gone – most are struggling to run
two regularly. There is a huge amount
of effort required from the various club
volunteers just to get everything in place
so the players can turn up on a Saturday
and do what they love.
“The mood at the club is very positive,
which represents a huge turnaround
from this time last year when we took the
difficult decision to withdraw from Kent
2 in order to rebuild. We appointed a new
coach, Matt Jones (a former 1st XV captain),
in the summer and he led a recruitment
drive that brought in new players and
brought back some experienced players
who had drifted away from the game.
We had a long pre-season and focused
on integrating the players socially with
Images courtesy of Martyn Howard
34 Issue 61
Atmosphere