Rugby Club Issue 76 | Page 78

Henley FOLLOW US ONLINE TWITTER.COM/RUGBYCLUBMAG “Rugby at our level faces significant financial pressures and regulations from above. The number of young players leaving the game for various reasons is a major concern and will reduce the number of teams that clubs like ours will be able to offer.” Rugby at our level faces significant financial pressures and regulations from above. The number of young players leaving the game for various reasons is a major concern and will reduce the number of teams that clubs like ours will be able to offer. We are looking at measures to try and retain players in this age group (18- 23) but the RFU need to take a strong lead here. Salary caps will only work if implemented rigorously which we know does not happen at Premiership level, so the clubs with most money will move faster than others following a pattern similar to football. One area that I personally think would help clubs at National One and Two levels is financial support annually 78 Issue 76 from the RFU to cover all travel, physio and medical costs and specialist coaching. These costs have escalated and are essential now for our very physical game and to enable us to travel around the country playing this wonderful sport. A new initiative that we launched in Sept 2017 was our PROP scheme - focused on years 1 and 2 in six local primary schools and years 7 and 8 at Gillotts School. The scheme offers rugby, skills development, teacher training and helpful resources. At present we look after approx. 400 children and look next year to expand the programme. All clubs have to be realistic and achieve a level of rugby that they can afford and we at Henley have aspirations, but these will have to be coupled with our financial and business achievements. We look forward to exciting times ahead.