Club Update July 2015

A previous Chairman used to have his Blog which I know I enjoyed reading as it kept us all up to date with matters both past, present and future. Wanting to resurrect this feature I have decided to introduce my own version but as yet I don’t have a funky name for it. Any suggestions will be greatly welcomed!

So what has been happening in the world of VRFC over the last few weeks?

The Wednesday night O2 Touch Rugby sessions have proven to be a great success. It has been brilliant to see whole families taking part with a fantastic mixture of players, ladies, gents, girls and boys. One nameless lady even declared on Facebook that it was “better than wine!” The final session will be held this Wednesday (8 July 2015) from 6pm with a free BBQ from 730pm as a thank you for all those that have attended. On that note I would like to thank Community Coach Rich Freeman for running the sessions and Ed Blake for stepping in last week when Rich was away on a jolly (claimed it was a Coaching Conference but we all know a jolly when we see one!)

Natwest Rugby Force Weekend (27 & 28 June 2015) saw a team of volunteers take on the next stage of developing the end of the carpark into a warm up/training area. The trees have now been cleared so we can now start to level off the area. We also took the opportunity to clear out the bar cellar which seemed to be full of novelty items left by the previous Chairman!

However, there is still plenty of work to be done so we will be holding some further work parties over the summer months. I would like to thank all those that turned up and put in the hard work. However, it is always the same faces that turn up and sacrifice their spare time. Can I please ask that if you are free when we hold the next work party that you pop along and help out. Even a couple of hours can go a long way to making things happen. On a plus side the club received £250 and a “Get Behind England” supporters pack from the RFU for taking part in this national rugby initiative.

The fixtures for both the 1st and 2nd XV have now been released and are viewable on the Hampshire RFU website. However, please be aware that we are in the process of swapping some around and adding a few “friendlies” so a final version will be published in the near future. Our new Fixtures and Match Secretary Jake has been working on this along with getting a number of quotes for different travel options for next season. Furthermore, Roger Evans has, yet again, been working tirelessly on sponsorship for next season. While he has secured a good number of sponsors we would always welcome more, especially as next season is our first without a travel sponsor. So if you are interested in sponsoring or have any money raising ideas then please do not hesitate to contact me.

Pre-season training has now started and been running for two weeks. Thursdays 6pm-8pm at the club. I know we all want to see the club get promoted this season so make every effort to attend as the hard work now will make all the difference once the season starts. Even I have been both weeks so if that doesn’t shame you into going then nothing will!
Anyway that’s all for now as Woz is giving me a lift home

Nolan

Chairman Ventnor RFC
“The future is bright, the future is blue and white”