Blaina
“My family were all involved with the club so I had to be
too! My father, Fred Howells, played as an openside
from the early 50s to the late 60s with my Uncle Bryn
and Cousin Gareth also playing. I’ve been President
for the last three years and have also sponsored the
club for the past ten. As long as the boys stick together
and play for each other I’m confident that we will keep
moving forward together.”
Dilwyn Howells, Premier Forest
Youth Challenges/Ambitions
“Unfortunately at the moment we do not have any Age
Grade sides. We did attempt starting up an Under 7s last year,
and had some nice numbers participating. But it’s very difficult
getting sufficient numbers - both youngsters, and adults to run
the section. So currently we only have a First XV, but live in
hope that we will be able to reinstate Age Grade teams at some
point in the future.” “As for many grass roots clubs, the biggest challenges by
far are falling player numbers. We are doing our best to recruit
and retain players, but it is a tough ask. We also run a Women’s
team, although they are also short on numbers, and they are
hoping to rebuild towards next season.
As mentioned, we need to finalise the Community Asset
Transfer of our playing field, which of course will bring a
whole new set of challenges. But it’s something we are looking
forward to, as it also presents many opportunities. We hope
to run many community based events, to get people’s buy-
in at all levels. We also need to do our best to consolidate in
the higher league that we will be playing in, and of course the
longer-term goal would be to attempt to work our way out of
this division, and up the Leagues if possible.”
Community
“we are very much a community club; we have always
been at the hub of the community, and this is set to expand
even further now, as we are well advanced in discussions with
our local authority to take on ownership of our ground and
facilities by a Community Asset Transfer. This will be a joint
enterprise between Blaina RFC and Blaina Cricket Club, under
the banner of a new entity, Blaina Sports Club.”
“I own two pub businesses locally and one of them, The Yew Tree, is next to Blaina RFC and they use it as
their base. My partner Chris is from Blaina and he is always supporting the guys and I get down to watch
them when I can as well. It is fabulous to see how well they are doing and everyone is buzzing at the
moment – stick together and anything is possible.”
Hayley Powell, The Yew Tree
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