Cleobury Mortimer
Kidderminster Carolians RFC and due
to some disagreements were looking
for a new Club. Last season 2016/17
they won Division 1 of the North Mids
Colts League as Champions. Many of
these players fed in to the Senior sides
and have stayed at the Club and are
now fully integrated with the existing
players.”
2017/18
“Promotion to our highest league
position ever has brought its own
problems, namely tougher opposition!
We trained well in summer pre-season
and built up some confidence, but then
came a reality check at Whitchurch RFC
as some players started to feel that they
shouldn’t belong at this level. Then a
home match against Crewe & Nantwich
saw us concede early and lose the first
half 12-3, but we battled back in the
second to win that 5-3, so gained first
losing bonus point.
This gave us more confidence for
the away game at Kidderminster and
after having all the play and being on
top for the majority we were left with a
sense of ‘should have won it’ to lose by a
point! Things are getting better and we
are hopeful for an enjoyable, if difficult,
season ahead. We lost narrowly in away
matches to Ludlow and Kidderminster
and achieved a couple of home wins.
Matches are now close and
competitive, so enjoyable. The squad
is now getting competitive as many of
the Colt players from last season have
fully integrated in to the Senior sides.
Our 2nd XV have already played four
games, winning two and losing two and
attracted a few novice local lads who
now have the confidence to train and
learn. Our aim now is probably to stay
at this level to allow the younger players
time to acclimatise.”
Community
“We are absolutely a community
club. That is why I think we get a lot
of ‘hidden support’ from parents of
students with transport costs and also
when we look for people to join the 100-
club or pay for a pitch side advertising
board. There are many examples of how
our Rugby Club is at the centre of the
community of Cleobury Mortimer, but
here are some:
Our clubhouse is a shared Sports
& Social Club with other local sports
clubs including Football, Volleyball &
Cricket. The independent Committee
have operated this facility for many
years and each of the participating clubs
put forward a couple of representatives.
The facility benefits the local community
by sourcing local produce and ales for
post-match hospitality, they also operate
Bingo, Whist Drives and Saturday
Entertainment for the elderly.
The club have organised collection of
bags of logs and then distributed these
to the elderly of the town, mostly by the
junior side over recent years. We have
also organised to take the local branch of
the British Legion Veterans on a day out
for the 11/11/2011 for Remembrance
Day.
We play a big part in our community
and these efforts have helped cross
barriers and embrace our local
community.”
Challenges
“One of the biggest challenges for
us is getting people playing the game!
Without the support to pay for insurance,
self-employed people struggle to play
regularly if they get injured as they
cannot justify the loss of earnings in
what is an even more physical game.
Small clubs like ours will struggle to
attract sufficient numbers to field two
sides so will forever be scrapping at
the lower reaches of the RFU pyramid.
Outsiders might suggest amalgamating
clubs in close proximity and ‘survival of
the fittest’, a natural wastage, but that is
reckoning without local rivalry – some
would rather give up the game if their
club folds, than play for a rival. Stepping
up a few levels for those with talent is
not a problem – playing for a local rival
is!
Additionally, as part of the Sport
2000 project in return for a RFU grant,
favourable terms to rent the pitch
facilities, owned by Lacon Childe School,
were negotiated on a long lease. The
school is responsible for the preparation
of the pitch and we work together to
achieve this. We also rent the changing
rooms from the local Leisure Centre and
our Club House is a community resource
that we share with other groups, but
we don’t benefit from the bar sales. In
summary, we don’t own our facilities,
which is less of a liability, but difficult to
develop further.”
Ambitions
“At our level we are more realistic
than having lofty ambitions! To be still
operating and financially viable to be
fulfilling fixtures after twenty eight
years means that we could look forward
to the Club’s thirtieth birthday with
celebratory enthusiasm.
We would like to have the players
to be operating regularly at a higher
level, but we have bounced around level
8 or level 9 for many years and so our
ambition is to still be doing that in 5
years’ time.”
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