Trojans
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of different age groups, both male and
female. It is always pleasing to see young
players do so well.”
Plans
“Once a season gets under way most
of our work is normally done. Players
and coaching staff are in place and it
mainly becomes a case of managing the
finances and making sure that we can
follow the plans that were set pre-season.
This season is different as the
upcoming possibilities for things off the
pitch are taking a lot of managing. If we
get to the end of the season and can say
that our off-field plans have come to
fruition we will be very happy indeed.”
Youth
“Youth rugby is vital for any club.
Not only does it fulfil the need to be
providing the community with sports
opportunities for the young but also
provides a significant income stream.
With nearly 500 players in our youth
section, plus the coaches, parents etc.
Sunday mornings are the busiest by far
at our club.
Talking of the young players, we
were incredibly proud that our Academy
and Under 16s were chosen to represent
Hampshire at the unveiling of the Rugby
Memorial in France in September.
With only two other clubs from the UK
providing youngsters at the event this
was a truly special occasion for our boys.
They were impeccably behaved
and came back with some wonderful
18 Issue 75
memories and an appreciation for the
events of 100 years ago. This was also the
culmination of the Help for Heroes bike
ride and included representatives from
French and English national sides as well
as Army teams and the unveiling itself
of the memorial, which was designed by
former French International Jean-Pierre
Rives.” has to be beneficial not only to them but
also others they come into contact with
at School and elsewhere.
We are a totally Amateur club and
the whole ethos around the club is one
of taking pride in our club, our players
and our teams at whatever level. Within
social media we have taken to using
#proudtobeatrojan as our rallying cry.”
Integration Challenges/Ambitions
“Integrating players into the senior
game is a challenge for all clubs. With
many younger players going off to
University and a large proportion
essentially not returning, having got
jobs in other parts of the country, we are
lucky to have even a few transition into
senior Rugby at our club.
We try to balance this by having
an arrangement with local universities
and this is, in itself, a challenge. We do
manage to get some of the Academy to
play senior Rugby before they go off
to University but even that is difficult
as our Academy has historically been
strong and done very well in both local
and national competitions. With that
kind of success at Academy level it can
be difficult to tempt them into Senior
Rugby.” “I think the biggest challenge will
be keeping the lower Senior sides
going. Locally many clubs struggle
with numbers in the lower sides and
the problem seems to be getting steadily
worse with, some weeks, five out of six
matches cancelled or postponed in the
lower merit tables.
Like many other clubs our lower
teams wouldn’t exist without the
dedication of some of our elder
statesmen, turning out week after week
(as an aside a few weeks ago our third
team played with a front row – yes just
the three – whose ages added up to
171! And we won the game). When that
generation finally retires I fear there will
be a major hiatus.
By and large our ambition is to do
more of the same. We want to keep our
teams at the level they are at or higher
(definitely not lower!) and to continue
to provide Sunday morning rugby for as
many young people as we can fit in the
space we have. We do hope to have more
space in the next few years so I suppose
we want to fill that too.”
Community
“We are very definitely a community
club. Simply by having such a large
quantity of youngsters, male and female,
experiencing the joys and the culture of
sportsmanship that Rugby brings just