Cooke
club that real progress has been made in recent years to stabilise
and put a plan in place to ensure Cooke thrives in the future.
“Each section is performing well in the respective leagues.
In the last two years our Women’s team has arranged fixtures
at 5pm on the back of a home Men’s fixture where possible
on a Saturday. This has really helped to integrate the sections
and increased the buzz around the club on a Saturday (Super
Saturday) with rugby starting at 9am with the Minis and
action right throughout the day Minis/Youth/Senior Men and
finishing with Senior Women’s by 6.30pm.
“Our Senior Men are hoping to finish top 4 in their league
Kukri Championship One. This will allow them to enter the
Junior All Ireland Cup in season 2019/20. The Senior Women
are hoping to finish in the top 4 of the Women’s All Ireland
League and solidify their position as the top women’s club
team in Ulster. All other sections will continue to work hard to
further grow and expand the Cooke family.
“Youth rugby is extremely important to the survival
of Cooke RFC. Youth Convenor Noel Brown and his band
of volunteers work extremely hard to ensure the section is
expanding and operating smoothly. This work was rewarded
last year when Noel was awarded SONI Community Champion
(Youth) at the Ulster Rugby awards for season 17/18.
“The club work closely with Ulster Rugby and engage in
different initiatives such as ‘Cross-field 7s’ for U18, also U20
tournaments for school leavers combined with club players.
During the season we integrate some of the training sessions
for our senior section with the U18 section ensuring players
from the youth are familiar with the senior environment of the
club.
“Belfast has numerous rugby clubs. Cooke RFC prides itself
on a rich history and strong tradition of being a very inclusive
and welcoming club. The club engages with local schools and
our sponsors are all from the local community. This all helps to
create a very friendly and tight knit feel around the club house.
“We have two well-known supporters groups made up
of ex Cooke players ‘Cooke Badgers’ and ‘Cooke Waisted
Beavers’. Both groups providing exceptional support both on
and off the field for all sections of the club.
“Recruitment will continue to be a challenge; players,
coaches, volunteers and helpers. However, the current work
that is going on in each section led by a strong club committee
will ensure there is an effective and realistic plan in place to
help maintain and grow each section. Simply put, our ambition
is to continue to survive and thrive!”
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