The start of the New Year sees us hitting the half way point in our season; giving us the perfect opportunity to reflect on the positive things that have happened and the contributions of our members.

Please don’t consider the following as an exhaustive list, so many people have done so much that there is every chance someone or something has been missed. (If something has been missed, please let us know ASAP!)

So seems as it is the whole reason we exist, let’s start with the rugby.

This season has seen a massive change to our league, both Mid-West 5 leagues have been merged to form a 12 team competition, meaning that we have double the league commitments of previous years. Regardless of the added pressure, the first team are currently sitting at 6th in the league, only 3 points behind 5th placed Atherstone.

Who made this possible? Long serving club coach Carl Haywood and 1st team captain Joe Churchill deserve massive appreciation for their hard work so far this season.

However their jobs would be considerably harder if it wasn’t for the players performing well and making themselves available for selection week after week. So thank you all for that.

Previously known as the 2nd team, this squad has been renamed since the start of the season to reflect the direction the club need it to take. Having seen an influx of new and exceptionally keen players, the club needs a conduit to develop and nurture these players to become the players they want to be.

This dream has been made possible by the hard work of the new development team manager Mark Higgins, who has driven the positive attitude and camaraderie via the wonders of social media and dedicated training for developing players.

Once again, Mark couldn’t have done it all himself. He has been supported all the way by team captain Chris Root and the seasoned players who have been guiding their peers on.

Some of you may not be aware, before the season started the committee empowered a group of members with the task of improving player recruitment and retention. Those individuals set out to draw in new players, old players and those we have lost touch with over the years, whilst making current players want to stay.

Their work included pushing player sponsorship to increase the clubs profile, renewing our social media presence and attending public events like the carnival to spread the word of our club, to name but a few.

The members of the task force are:
• Joe Churchill
• Dave Howard
• Sam Foley
• Nigel Blackshaw
• Rob Ankcorn
• Thomas Baildham
• Sam Townsend
• Phill Maddicks

Once the rugby is done, we all retire back to the comfort of our clubhouse, to enjoy each other’s company and celebrate or commiserate our day’s efforts. The only way the drink can flow on a weekend, is because of the efforts of our volunteers. The people who offer their time to work behind the bar, cook the post-game food and supplying event specific services. A task, for those who haven’t experienced it before, that isn’t as easy as it looks.

Those people are (in no particular order):
• Julia Osborn
• Loz Royal
• Rob Ankcorn
• Tom Baildham
• Geoff Murphy
• Owain Butler
• Julie Reading
• Andy Foster
• Gemma Brookes
• Ted Perkins
• Joe Churchill
• Joe Griffiths
• Ellen Meehan
• Dave Howard
• Nigel Blackshaw
• Sam Foley
• Phill Maddicks
• Graham Ankcorn
• Dean Yarranton
• Jamie Edwards
• Louise Maggs

Last year saw the club upgrade the old tired kitchen, to a shiny new one. A task that was completed with our fair weather sport partners, Stourport Cricket Club. The collaboration has seen fantastic results, I hope you will all agree.

The volunteers who made the transformation possible are:
• Phill Maddicks
• Andy Foster
• Lynn Cook
• Jim Cook
• Rich Foley
• Neil Delo
• Mark (CC)
• Delva Henry
• Sam Foley

As always, your committee have been working hard behind the scenes to keep the club moving forward and achieving our goals.

As a club we have arguably the best playing fields in our league, hosting games when everyone thought we would call them off because of the weather, this is only made possible because of the tireless work of our grounds manager Andy Foster.

Despite starting the season with no fixture planning experience, Nigel Blackshaw has excelled at ensuring both teams have had as many games as they can manage.

The clubs socials have been a great success so far, and we have learned that our members are particularly fond of cocktails (who’d have thought it?) an idea dreamt up by social secretary Dave Howard.

The clubhouse has been kept clean and available for everyone to enjoy, by the seasons clubhouse manager Phill Maddicks.

It’s always good to see new faces on the committee, especially in positions that rarely get noticed by the players, but without the hard work of club secretary Gemma Brookes the committee wouldn’t be able to function.

Money makes the world go round and the man who keeps the club turning in that respect is club treasurer Ted Perkins ensuring the clubs money is properly accounted for takes more time than most of us could spare, so a man like Ted is invaluable.

This season the club has more paid members than it has had for years, who takes the credit for this? At least some must go to the membership secretary Sam Foley.

The brand new club first team kit will be arriving shortly, believe us it is worth the wait. Something that wouldn’t be possible without the support of our sponsors and the man who drew them to us, Rich Foley.

And finally, the figure heads of the club; President Sam Jones and Chairman Andy Foster, have continued to drive us forward in ways that only they know how. An invaluable asset that we are lucky and proud to have.

As I’m sure you can all see, the club wouldn’t exist without the efforts of our volunteers. To keep us moving forward and achieving we need people to step up and help out where they can. If you feel that you want to volunteer your time to help the club then please approach any member of the committee, whether it’s an hour, or an hour a week you can offer, all help is needed.

Also, it’s never too early to consider a place on the committee, every year each position becomes vacant and available for people to put themselves forward for consideration by the members.

Finally, let’s celebrate our success from last year and push into 2020 with the same enthusiasm.