Ventnor Rugby Club’s Carnival Triumph

Club, Club Events

By GH

AJ Wells sponsor of Ventnor RFC
gamson gray isle of wight web design
Red Funnel Isle of Wight ferries sponsor of Ventnor RFC
Wight Shipyard Company sponsor of Ventnor RFC

Ventnor Rugby Club’s Carnival Triumph

All the hard work put in by the Carnival Team paid off with the award of The Tom Harding Cup for Best Local Entry and a Third Place in The Associations and Clubs category of the Ventnor Carnival, Wednesday 9th August 2023.

Ventnor Rugby Club's Carnival Triumph
Ventnor Rugby Club’s Carnival Triumph

 Massive congratulations and thanks to James Blake for bringing it all together and to Bob, Gareth and Bradley for putting in the work.  There were some outstanding performances yesterday evening, namely:-

Ventnor RFC at Ventnor Carnival 2023 Before the off
Ventnor RFC at Ventnor Carnival 2023 Before the off

From Bob and Gareth for the sounds and lights emanating from the DJ booth. The set was epic and had the whole place bopping – no doubt in Chale, Brighstone, Shanklin and a good part of Normandy as well!  The only concern was when they got the smoke machine going and we all thought that the hard-pressed wiring had finally given up!

Ventnor RFC at Ventnor Carnival 2023 Gareth and Bob
Ventnor RFC at Ventnor Carnival 2023 Gareth and Bob

From Zack for his immaculate driving (and for counter-balancing the weight of the 10kVA generator strapped into the back of Bob’s pick-up!).

Ventnor RFC at Ventnor Carnival 2023 James B celebrates
Ventnor RFC at Ventnor Carnival 2023 James B celebrates

From Lewy, who did the full circuits in flippers (part of pre-season training no doubt).

From Rosco and Tommo who literally danced the whole route.

From Beast for his intriguing and yet persuasive input into the whole gender debate.

Ventnor RFC at Ventnor Carnival 2023 Proof we won!
Ventnor RFC at Ventnor Carnival 2023 Proof we won!

From The Rev Warren Riches for not missing one line-out at the blast of Clive’s whistle. (A point of historical accuracy Clive: Admiral Nelson may have been self-conscious about his missing eye but I am pretty sure he didn’t cover it with pink-rimmed sunglasses!).

From Charlie whose sales pitch with the charity bucket was more Bob Geldof than we’re used to!

Ventnor RFC at Ventnor Carnival 2023 That winning feeling
Ventnor RFC at Ventnor Carnival 2023 That winning feeling

From Ed who must have lost 10kg wearing the inflatable shark’s outfit throughout. His battle with the tyrannosaurus outside the British Legion will live long in the memory.

From Frances, Jack and Clive for distributing all those leaflets. Between us and Kelly, Heather and their Ventnor Youth Football girls, we handed out a thousand leaflets to the crowd promoting rugby, Ventnor FC, Ventnor youth football and Ventnor petanque at Watcombe. Hopefully one or two will hit home and a few more people will realise what our amazing arena has to offer.

ventnor rfc leaflet a5 folded aug 2023
ventnor rfc leaflet a5 folded aug 2023
ventnor rfc leaflet a5 folded aug 2023
Ventnor RFC at Ventnor Carnival 2023 The Ventnor Mayor meets VRFC
Ventnor RFC at Ventnor Carnival 2023 The Ventnor Mayor meets VRFC

It was good to meet Steve Cooper, Ventnor’s mayor who promises to come up to Watcombe during the season. (There was some relief that no-one swiped his chain of office!)

On a more serious note, it was good to meet Luke Orton’s mother enroute. She is so grateful to the club for the support they are giving Luke and the family while he recovers from surgery in Southampton. Let’s keep the support going – see Crowdfunder for Luke Orton.

All in all, a brilliant evening that displayed Ventnor RFC and the Watcombe community at its vibrant best.

Best Regards

James

JAMES MORTON
Ventnor RFC