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About Us
Cranleigh is the largest village in England with Cranleigh RFC positioned just outside the village in 15 acres of its own ground, with four full sized pitches plus two Minis pitches. The Club was formed in 1967. We have come a long way since & now attract members from Cranleigh & the surrounding area.
We are fortunate to be an Associate Club of NEC Harlequins, running 3 senior sides plus a thriving Mini & Junior section.
In 2002 we were most grateful to be awarded a grant from Waverley Borough Council to assist the Club in the drainage of the upper pitch across the road from the Clubhouse & also the Mini playing area which has helped us enormously.
In 2003/04 Cranleigh RFC 1st XV won The Surrey Shield.
In 2004/05 Cranleigh RFC 2nd XV, which we now run as our Academy side, won its Merit Table Final - a great achievement for the Academy in its first full season.
Famous past players include Wasps, England & Lions lock Simon Shaw who learnt his rugby at Cranleigh.
More recently Tom Sargeant has progressed through the Mini & Junior ranks from the age of 6 to 16 to earn Surrey County, Regional & England U16A honours last season. Tom is now in the England U18 Development Group & has represented the England Academy at that age group in Ireland. He toured Australia in 2007 at the end of his second U18 season & has now been given a pro contract at Quins.
Tom's younger sister Rose is also a Surrey & Regional player, again having come through the Mini & Junior ranks at Cranleigh from age 6.
Cranleigh are proud to have 2 other current county girls & have worked with Camberley to develop a highly successful combined team at U14 level, winning the National 7s.
For 2007/08 we have expanded our girls team to include players from Guildford & Chobam, as well as those from Cranleigh & Camberley, under the South West Surrey District banner & are aiming to field two sides at the new girls age groups of U15 & U18.
We have numerous boys playing county rugby at most age groups, including 3 in the new Surrey U13s School of Rugby elite player development squad run by Harlequins.
Our mission is to offer a fun, quality rugby experience to all, regardless of ability, age or gender, as a family orientated club.
With this in mind we became one of the first clubs to employ a Community Rugby Coach whose's role is to introduce the game into new & emerging rugby playing schools in the local area.
In the past the Mini & Junior section have taken teams to both Holland & Belgium on tour & further tours occur for most Junior teams each season.
We have successfully applied for RFF funding to level & tarmac our main car park, greatly improving the appearance of the Club & keeping an awful lot of our famous mud out of the Clubhouse.
Also we managed to secure RFU funding to have our lower pitch across the road properly drained & this is now providing a valuable, relatively dry, playing surface even in the worst of weather conditions.
Looking to the future, in 2006 we refurbished our shower & changing facilites, providing segregated areas for men & women to the benefit of all, especially our young ladies who sometimes get rather muddy!
Furthermore during the summer of 2007 extensive further drainage work was undertaken in order to dramatically improve our Training pitch, as well as a whole programme of other continuing groundwork.
Away from the playing side, in December 2004 Cranleigh RFC became only the 4th club in the whole of Surrey to be awarded the prestigious RFU Seal of Approval & Sports England Clubmark, recognising the massive improvements made in recent years to both the Club infrastructure & to our practices.
We now have 20 RFU Level 1 qualified coaches plus 2 RFU Level 2 qualified coach & 6 referees who have completed the RFU run National Foundation Referees Course.
Over 60 volunteers make the Club tick & this was recognised by the RFU when we were awarded 1 of only 10 "Year of the Volunteer 2005" plaques to be presented to rugby clubs throughout the whole of England.
We have an arrangement with the St John's Ambulance to attend the Club each weekend & ensure that our players' safety is as assured as it can possibly be.
The Club also set up a Netball Section in 2006 which is now thriving & providing a more varied use for our facilities.
In our Anniversary season we have a refurbish clubhouse, excellent playing surfaces & a degree of enthusiasm that few clubs can claim to match!
Future plans are many & varied, including new floodlights for which we have just received an RFF grant plus a generous offer of assistance with the necessary groundworks from Morrisons for which we are most grateful.
All such future plans will be aimed at improving the quality of the rugby experience for those who choose to join Cranleigh RFC.
If you would like further details please contact either Nigel Spong, Senior Club Chairman, on 01483 272700 or Toby Eves, Mini & Junior Chairman, on 07710 862605.
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