Rugby Club Issue 64 | Page 43

Old Caterhamians 2015/16 For all of your building and DIY supplies visit your local Fairalls “Both our Senior Men and Ladies had a mediocre season last time around, ending up mid table, however as I look into the future, we now have a very successful junior section that has a great array of talented players, that I believe will progress into the Senior sides. All of our top three Junior sides U17, U16 and U15’s gained promotion last season and our academy side progressed through to the Surrey Under 21 Shield final. To top that, two of our Ladies side played for the Surrey side that beat Lancashire in the Inaugural County Cup. Both of our Surrey Ladies hope to emulate Kay Wilson, an England World Cup Player, who started her rugby at the Old Cats.” This Season 01883 742256 Order online at www.fairalls.co.uk Lightside Heavyside High Street Branch 44 & 46 High Street Godstone RH9 8LW 01883 571003 Taylors Hill Branch Eastbourne Road Godstone RH9 8EH 01883 571004 For more information about our other branches please visit our website. “The new season will bring its challenges as outlined previously, however we are prepared and ready to face these. We are working with Caterham School very closely and working on plans to encourage graduates to return to play both for our academy and hopefully return to play senior rugby when they finish at Uni. Our Manager of Junior rugby is out in the community at local schools, promoting rugby and our club as a great environment for them to come and join. Through the summer we have run community fun evenings where we have between 40 and 60 attendees at all age groups and have found it a great way to recruit into the Mini and Junior sections.” Youth “I think you can see from my previous comments, the junior section is our future success and one of my key strategies is to invest in the junior section of the club. When I joined the club, I took my under 12 side all the way through to colts rugby and when they finished University the majority returned and represented the 1st XV when it got promoted to the London leagues. This personally for me was one of the highlights of my time at the Old Cats and proves that if you spend time investing in your junior sides it will produce success in future years.” Integration Serving the Tandridge Community for over 60 years Catax are the largest Taxi Company in the Tandridge area, covering Caterham, Warlingham, Whyteleafe, Godstone, Oxted, Woldingham, Chaldon and Kenley with a fleet of over 40 vehicles. With several offices and vehicles ranging from 8 seater Mini-buses, 6 seater Galaxy's, Estates, Saloons and Executive we can cover all your requirements with a minimum amount of fuss and the greatest effeciency. Airports , Cruise Terminals & London Theatres catered for. Long distance journeys at competitive rates. CALL US TODAY 01883 - 345151 01883 - 626442 “Introducing senior players into senior rugby has always been the question that haunts a number of rugby clubs I visit, it has happened at the Old Cats in the past, where we have lost talented Junior players as there has been no transition into the senior club. The key to making this happen starts at an early age group and has to be a two-way joint agreement with both the senior and junior players, parents and coaches. It is imperative to have seniors attend junior games and assist in training sessions and coaching so a mutual respect and a solid relationship is built. Also including the juniors on senior match days is essential to let them feel part of the club and nurture their ambitions to represent the 1st XV in future years. There must be a migration strategy that includes seniors, juniors, coaches and supporters to encourage this process to work; otherwise many of the talented players will be lost to other activities available to them.” [email protected] www.sportip.biz 43