| Chairman's Chat |
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February 2008
The autumn and winter has seen mixed results from our teams on the field but pleasing progress off it.
Our 17s won the East Midlands Cup final progressing to the RFU National Cup competition doing one better in the process than their three immediate predecessors who all progressed but in the Plate competition. We wish them all the best in their pursuit of the national trophy when they play the Midlands Quarter Final away at Sleaford, Lincs, on March 14th.
Jon Cresswell (Gloucester), James Ingle (Saints) and 16 year old Henry Staff (Saracens) have made their debuts at Guinness 'A' level this season, making a total of six youngsters from three different age groups to have played at this level in the last two years. This achievement reflects not just on the outstanding efforts of the players themselves but also on the consistently high level of coaching provided by our mini & youth system. Well done to all concerned.
In addition, Henry Staff has also made the final England U18 AER squad for the March tournament in Italy, a year young!
The clubhouse will be closed from July 13 through Aug 7 for an overdue complete refurbishment of the bar, thanks are due to Andy Teague who has provided much input.
The pitches will be relaid this summer, immediately following the looming Annual Dinner & Dance but please note that, due to circumstances beyond our control, this years AGM has been moved to Thursday May 22nd.
Colin Burke
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October 2007
October has seen the start of Mini Festivals and whilst a number of age groups have won trophies our Under 7s have made a spectacular start winning both the Peterborough and Rugby Lions tournaments using two different squads.
Our 17s and Colts sides both remain unbeaten although the Colts exited from the National Cup following a draw at home to Market Bosworth, the dreaded away team rule!
Our girls team have played their first match and Ampthill recently hosted the East Midlands Girls Development Day showing our determination to promote girls rugby.
Former Ampthill Mini and Youth players continue to impress away from the club. 18 year old Jon Cresswell was a recent substitute for Gloucester in a Guinness A League match against Harlequins whilst 17 year old James Ingle and 16 year old Henry Staff continue to impress at Northampton and Saracens Academies respectively.
Rob Garrett of Ampthill Under 16s has made the East Midlands 16s squad whilst Luke Antoine, Ed Payne, Colin Liddell and Chris Muncaster are all in the East Midlands Under 18s squad.
The 1st & 2nd XVs had a mixed month results wise with the highlight being the 1stXVs 80-12 trouncing of Bromsgrove in the EDF Energy Intermediate Cup, however, the Extras record of Played 8 Won 8 currently gives them bragging rights in the clubhouse!
I look forward to the Christmas Punch & Chili Party on December 15th and hope to meet many members there.
Colin Burke
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September 2007
September saw the usual manic registration days with more than 300 Mini and Youth players returning to Ampthill. The Minis have their first fixture of the season on 30th at home to Luton and we wish them well, especially the Under 7s who will be playing their first competitive match of tag rugby.
Our youth teams have started well with good wins including a first ever win against Biggleswade for our Under 16s and the Under 13s making an impressive start to 15 a side rugby. Our newly resurrected Girls teams have seen growing numbers attending training.
The Colts have started their league campaign with a comprehensive 62-0 win over Luton and Ampthill have yet another international in Henry Staff from the Under 17s who has been selected for England Under 18s a year young and will be playing in Ireland and France over the next few months. Good luck Henry.
Remember the Mini and Youth system at Ampthill is successful because of the tremendous effort of all our volunteers and I thank them for ensuring the season has started with instant success and little by way of early season teething problems.
The 1stXV won their first game back in Mids 2 with a heart stopping last kick of the game conversion, results across the senior teams since have been mixed.
The new furniture for the clubhouse has been delivered leaving only the new flooring to complete the upgrade
Finally, may I remind you to give a warm welcome to visiting teams and their supporters and to face defeat with dignity and victory with humility.
Colin Burke
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August 2007
I would like to thank everyone who has helped us with the club spring clean, the improvement is remarkable! We still have a lot more work to do and we require more volunteers as many hands make light work.
Over the past few weeks the club house has been redecorated, electrical work undertaken and new signs installed. As required by our FIre Inspection the extinguishers have been serviced and are now mounted on wall brackets, please do not use them as door stops! We have replaced and relocated most club notice boards to the foyer and re-organised the photographs and memorabilia on the clubhouse walls.
The pitches have been reseeded and the combination of adequate watering (i.e. lots of rain) and August sunshine has produced a much improved surface, however, we still have a problem with moles and rabbits on/near the floodlit pitch, if you see a problem please either inform a committee member or a coach or better still, deal with it yourself.
The club web site is in the process of being updated to provide age group specific sections, it is intended that it will become the focal point for communication between the club and members, there is a public web site available to anyone and a private site secured by username/password which includes a forum allowing members to discuss matters of interest on line, members of the club (senior and junior) will be granted access on request.
This season sees a new initiative for Girls rugby with sides at U15 (for those 12 and over) and U18, fixtures are being arranged. The senior squad has been training since the beginning of July under new coach Alan Brown with preparations for the new season culminating in a 12-12 draw at Bedford Athletic Sat Aug 25. Although reading too much into a pre-season game is futile the 1stXV did not look out of place against their higher league opposition.
Good luck and best wishes for the new season
Colin Burke
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