Fareham Heathens
Fareham Heathens
FOLLOW US ONLINE TWITTER.COM/RUGBYCLUBMAG
Fareham Heathens
RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB
Fareham Heathens RFC is a Community
Rugby Club based in Hampshire.
The club is situated at Cams Alders Recreation Ground,
just off Newgate Lane in Fareham.
The club prides itself in being an inclusive set up that
welcomes everybody and encourages inclusive involvement.
It is run completely by volunteers and this ‘get stuck in’ ethos
is what makes the Club the great place it is. Fareham Heathens
is here for one reason ‘to enable people to participate in the
great game of Rugby in a welcoming environment’.
The Club’s aim is to maintain a level of excellence that is
respected and admired at local, county and national level and
we aim to do this by:
• Offering access to the game for all, regardless of age, gender
and ability.
• Being a focal point in the local community for players and
their families.
• Providing continuing quality development for all players,
coaches and volunteers.
• Promoting the ideals of rugby in accordance with the
constituent body and the RFU.
• Managing our club efficiently and professionally.
My name is Bernie Rhodes, and I have been involved
with the club on and off for over a decade. I have personally
been involved with Rugby since a very early age and I have
personally benefitted from what the game of Rugby offers.
I had the honour of playing International Rugby,
representing Ireland at Schools 18 Group in 1984.
94 Issue 77
My chosen career in retail limited my participation within
Rugby until I returned to the game to support the development
of the Rugby Academy at Heathens almost 10 years ago.
I have held the position of Assistant Coach, Head Coach
and more recently Director of Rugby.
I was attracted to Fareham Heathens, not only because it
was my ‘local’ club but also as it was a thriving Community
based Rugby Club, living the core values of Rugby.
There are always challenges as with other clubs as we
rely solely on volunteers to deliver Rugby to our members as
well as maintaining our facilities. Effectively we are a small
business being run by volunteers.
Over the last few years we have grown from strength to
strength, and the club now has a thriving Junior section with
almost 200 members, covering all age groups from U6. We also
have a thriving Ladies section as well as a Men’s Senior section,
where we field two senior team’s week in week out. Our 1st
XV competes in Hants 1, our fourth successive season in this
League.
The mood within our club is very positive and we continue
to work hard to develop our on field and off field activity.
For a club of our size we have once again had a very
positive start to the 2017/18 season. We continue to attract new
players across all sections of our club and on field success is
being experienced across all age groups.
“We’ve sponsored the club
for three years now. We first
got involved when one of our
customer’s Bernard asked us
to support the good work they
were doing. We were happy
to help as we knew the money
would be used well. Fareham
Heathens really is a fantastic
club with plenty of passion and
enthusiasm and we’re proud to
be associated with them.”
Car Repairs, Servicing and MOT Testing
Your Local Trustworthy and Reliable Garage in Park Gate
Station Garage in Park Gate is a family-run service
and MOT test centre with a reputation for honesty and
reliability. We’ve been in business for over 20 years and
our team have over 100 years of experience working on
vehicles between them.
• MOT & SERVICING • GENERAL CAR REPAIRS
• DIAGNOSTICS • AIR CONDITIONING • FREE WIFI
• COURTESY CAR
Proud Sponsors of Fareham Heathens RFC
Neil Kirkland, Station Garage
01489 584 567
www.stationgarageparkgate.co.uk
Park Gate Business Centre, Chandlers Way, Southampton, SO31 1FQ
Our thriving youth section is the sustainable foundation our
club needs. We fully understand the importance of a thriving
Youth section and we have many players who
have had County representative honours
at various age groups. We could field
a 1st XV today made up purely of
players who have come through
the Youth/Junior section of
our club. Even when players
go off to further education,
many return to Heathens
to play Senior Rugby,
assuming their jobs keep
them in the area.
Like most clubs, it is
sometimes challenging
to manage the transition
between Youth and
Seniors but we have
had success in this area
by ‘blooding’ Colts in
their final season within
the Senior teams, some
even playing 1st XV Rugby.
Despite having a ‘gap’ in the
Colts section our Chairman
continues to work very hard to
develop this age group with the
support of our RFU RDO.
Our biggest challenges over the coming
years will be the development of our facilities
that are showing their age. The management team continue
to work with our local Council to see what can be done, at the
same time trying to maintain our existing facilities. We rely on
the support of local business and benevolent individuals to
achieve this and we are very grateful for all the
support we have received.
Our objectives over the next
3-5 years are one of continuous
improvement. Not only do we
want to continue to improve
our ability to develop all the
players we support, but also
to improve the facilities
both on and off the field of
play, for the benefit of our
members.
We recently had six
of our Coaches complete
the new RFU Level 2
coaching course and we
have additional coaches
looking to complete the
course before the end of
the current season.
Our Club Mantra is
‘Together & Strong’ and this
is embedded within our DNA.
If you would like to become
i