On behalf of everyone at Aspatria RUFC welcome to Bower Park. We hope you enjoy both today's match & our hospitality including on field rivalry where our objectives are different!
We are all delighted to have been promoted to the N1W league following our successful 2010/11 season. Thanks go to the efforts of all our players & coaching team lead by Mike Scott and backed up by the Players Committee. We have some new recruits for the season and will be looking to consolidate our position, as a bare minimum.
The Eagles continue in the Cumbria League which has been the subject of much debate at county level following the reduction of the number of teams competing and some clubs persisting in playing their second team rugby outside Cumbria. This parochialism is doing great harm to rugby in Cumbria. The Eagles are a vital part of the club. Their continued existence is essential to the sustainability of the club and they provide a vital rugby experience for players with ambitions to play 1st XV. Our Committee will be supporting their efforts.
The Club's investment in facilities this year continued with a focus on the 1st team pitch during the past summer. We have invested about £8000 in improving the playing surface by sowing a rhizomaceous grass, which will repair itself following damage due to playing. We have injected about 120 tonnes sand by sand banding and top dressing and continued our pitches annual maintenance programme by regular use of the RFU financed Soil Reliever and our other equipment. More than half of the cost has been granted by the Rugby Football Foundation, the rest by sponsorship from Mike Dowling, Alan Harrison & Alan Hedworth. Next year major drainage works are planned for the training area.
Financial sustainability is always a hot topic for the Club Committee; to ensure our continued viability we need to build on the much valued local business sponsorship we already have. We need to increase local utilisation of the improved Clubhouse facilities to generate higher cash flow to ensure our future is guaranteed. We have to address the very serious issue of the flat roof which is past its sell by date. We now have a design which includes an option of Solar PV cells which would feed power to the grid when we are not using it. Thus we would earn payback using the governments feed in tariffs. All of this is expensive; we are currently looking at ways to fund it.
The Club is in good hands but we must continue to move steadily forwards. In particular
we need to concentrate our efforts in the fund raising area. We are fortunate in having an excellent core strength of volunteers who are much valued but we urgently need more. We are particularly grateful to our Ladies' & Juniors' Committees for their dedication, hard work and fund raising.
If you feel you can help please contact me or any other Committee member.
Lastly I would like to express our thanks to the Ladies Committee who have been so good to us over the years providing food every Saturday and at numerous other functions. They are now winding down gradually and the club will need to source alternatives. Any ideas will be welcomed. We have recognised their efforts by making Anne Wilson, Kath Stoddart, Audrey Borthwick and Mary Stephenson Life Members of the Club.
John Heyworth
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Message from Director of Rugby
The past two seasons have demonstrated how this game of ours can tear your emotions to shreds. Having been near to despair at the start of 2010 with relegation certain we start this new season with the mood in the club as positive as I can recall. Winning the North Lancs and Cumbria League Championship has revived the club and we can now look forward to participating in North 1 West. I thank all the players and coaching staff for their hard work in securing this achievement.
Further challenges lie ahead. We will meet several teams who beat us comfortably during our last spell in North 1 West. I expect no motivation will be required when we square up to those sides as we look to restore the reputation of our club. We will look to win every game but there will be disappointments along the route. This is inevitable as the standard of teams we play rises. However, I firmly believe we will be good enough to consolidate our position in this league and then look forward to where we want to take this club of ours.
When I say `we' I do of course include volunteers and supporters. However, at the end of all debate, it will be the ambition of the players that determines what the club can achieve. My message to the players is "Look closely at what you give the game and this club now; you have found base camp now find a mountain to climb". I want each and every player at this club to unlock their potential. The coaching team will help but I believe that the individual must take ultimate responsibility.
The new season will lead to more travelling. Last time around, in North 1 West, we were the only Cumbrian club and the many trips down the M6 were not always welcome. This time around we have fellow Cumbrian clubs Wigton and Carlisle to keep us company. Despite a healthy rivalry between our three clubs it is good to see us all competing in the same league. I am looking forward to the four local derby games with some anticipation. Putting local issues to one side, let us hope we can all stay up and perhaps be joined by Workington and Kirkby Lonsdale. I expect both of these teams to make a strong showing in the North Lancs and Cumbria competition. Five Cumbria teams in the league would be a big step towards evening out travelling issues and providing a more level playing field. The Lancashire and Cheshire based clubs do not currently have the same travel issues as us, with most of their games being played within 30 or 40 miles of their grounds. They cannot help the situation but nevertheless it does provide an advantage. One I hope to see diminished over time by the rise of other Cumbrian teams
What are my reasons for approaching the season with a positive outlook? Well firstly, you shouldn't be involved in the game if you are anything less than positive. Secondly, we have the services of a first class coach in Mike Scott and he in turn leads a small team dedicated to ensuring we are the best we can be. Behind the scenes there is another committed team who ensure all our playing arrangements are professionally organised. Although all our players are strictly amateur they are looked after on and off the field to near professional standards. There is no better place to play rugby than Bower Park. My final reason is simple. I look at the quality of players we have plus those recruited and know they want to win. All in all this should be enough.
Whilst looking at the facilities provided at Bower Park, I must also pay a compliment to John Heyworth and his team who tend the grounds, cutting, weeding and marking out. We receive many compliments from visiting sides about the quality of the pitches and I know this is not arrived at by accident. It is a credit to the Club Committee that they continue to invest in the playing surfaces when they do have many other competing calls on club finances. I hope visitors will continue to enjoy the pitch and our hospitality but not the match result. Winning home games is key to our success. If any opponent takes something away from Bower Park I want them to feel that they have sweated blood for their reward. It is my job to ensure this attitude goes right through the playing squad and translates into how we play the game.
A final word for our supporters. I hope numbers watching the games both home and away will increase on the back of last season's success. Please continue to be vocal in your support and encourage the team. The players appreciate your support and I know I can rely on your good sense not to let enthusiasm for the Black Reds spill over into any derogatory remarks about our opponents or the match officials. Enjoy your rugby
Mark Richardson
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Club Secretary message for 2011/12
Should you wish to drop into Aspatria, it would give me great pleasure to welcome you to our rugby club. The 2009-10 season was not one of our best but we have put that in the past. The rugby players did take the bull by the horns (we do have a few farmers!) after seting up a new player committee; the goal being to restructure the coaching and improve the skills of the players before the start of last season. They went into the new league with a fantastic attitude and determination which resulted in the club becoming champions of the North Lancs Cumbria league - WELL DONE LADS. I look forward to the return of Aspatria to North 1 west with a few rival encounters that will thrill the spectators. As ever we will start the season with a few new faces and will very much miss any players who have moved on either because of retirement or work. We would like to wish them the best for the future.
I would like to thank all of those people who volunteer their time to help the club function; whether they paint the lines on the pitch, put out the flags, cook and serve the food or pick up the rubbish. Talking of voluntary work, I believe it is prudent to say a hearty thank you to John Heyworth our Chairman, Barney Clegg our Treasurer, Mel Hanley our rugby man and Mark Richardson our Director of Rugby, without whom our club would surely not function. Also, thanks to those members on our general committee who try and help run the club, all on a volunteer basis. The final vote of thanks goes to our own group of supporters who come on a weekly basis to watch our teams regardless of the weather conditions and results! You guys are our real troopers...thank you.
I would like to congratulate Bill Clark in becoming Aspatria's Club President. A role that I know is very important and has been given to one of the nicest and most unassuming individuals that I know. I would also like to take this opportunity to say a hearty thank you to David Miller for the role he has played for the club over the years.
Finally, anyone out there who would like to come and play rugby will be more than welcome to come on down and train with the guys. Likewise, anyone who is past their playing best and would like to join our social scene or even help out, albeit with coaching our juniors, will be more than welcome!
David Saul
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