| Date |
20/02/08 18:30 () |
| Contact |
|
| Name |
Mr Christopher Smail |
| Phone |
07762 120133 |
| e-Mail |
chris@didsburyrfc.co.uk |
| |
|
| Venue |
Liverpool St Helens
Moss Lane, Windle
St Helens
WA11
MERSEYSIDE
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| Regional Meetings with Club Officers |
|
The President of Lancashire County RFU, David Herriman, has expressed concerns about the way the game is being managed both at the national level and at the clubs. He has therefore asked to personally invite you to a meeting to be held at ____ Rugby Club on Wednesday 6/13/20 February to which all Presidents, Chairmen and Secretaries in the area will also be invited.
The meeting will be an open evening to discuss the future of Rugby in general and Lancashire Clubs in particular. Our President does intend to invite discussion on:
- Protecting your club in the future – Considerations on incorporation.
- Ownership of the game and club participation in the RFU.
- How clubs practically ensure effective succession planning – if at all.
- How clubs secure future funding – Hoops to jump through, CASCs etc
A short presentation will be prepared on each of these topics to initiate discussion. The main purpose of the meeting will be for the clubs to share best practice and to inform the county so that we may effectively represent your views to the RFU.
The meeting will commence at 6.30 for 7.00 and a hotpot supper will be provided.
Chris Smail
|
On 6, 13 and 20th February 2008 the Community Task Group (CTG) organised a series of meetings at Rochdale, Preston Grasshopprers and Liverpool St Helens to which the President, Chair, Secretary and Treasurer of every club were invited.
The meetings were led by the CTG who were assisted throughout by the Regional Development team.
Attendance was remarkable, 20 from 11 clubs at Rochdale, 21 from 12 clubs at PGH and 33 from 16 at LSH, in total 74 from 56 clubs.
Ownership of the Game
The President, Dave Herriman spoke about the need for clubs to ensure they are properly communicating with both TW1 and Lancashire, he then invited feedback from the clubs, and in particular how could communication be improved between the county and the clubs. The most common responses were:
1. General meetings should move around the county.
2. Better communications, County committee minutes hard to find on website, need for bullet points as opposed to full minutes to be taken back to clubs.
3. Communication should be ‘pushed’ to clubs rather then being made available (Email of bullet points, key events?)
4. Lancashire Committee should meet clubs committees or regional groups – though some saw regional meetings as ‘just another layer of beau racy’.
5. County reporting should be in plain English not TLAs (3 letter acronyms!)
6. Clear contacts in the county need to be readily identifiable on the website.
Succession Planning
D Herriman spoke briefly about succession planning in the club context. Key feed back was:
1. Some clubs had success in engaging younger members by having team reps on committee from every group, e.g. Colts, mini parents, Junior parents, 4th team etc
2. Delegation and mentoring is a problem, often the old guard is reluctant to let go whilst complaining about lack of volunteers
3. Job descriptions (RFU website) demystify committee roles and lead to accountability.
4. Requests for specific assistance with a particular task are both good ways of introducing new individuals.
5. Need to develop links with local colleges as source of volunteers as well as players.
Player retention
Steve Blackburn spoke briefly on player retention and the ‘Pathfinder’ initiative. Responses included:
1. Ongoing problem with students – when will dual registration become a reality?
2. Difficulty finding games for extra sides, Miller Homes leagues have killed off pool.
3. Problem with teams being thrown out of Miller Homes leagues in September having missed two games and nowhere for students to play!
4. Availability of additional player insurance
Incorporation
C Smail spoke on incorporation and urged every club to check their liability. Some clubs had already registered as an Industrial and Provident Society and were willing to share experience. This provoked little feedback as it really needs to e considered on a club by club basis.
Future Funding
C Smail outlined briefly the current and anticipated future hurdles to funding. The need for development planning, security of tenure, appropriate child protection and coaching qualifications and so on.
It is important that future developments are discussed at an early stage to maximise funding opportunities.
FEEDBACK
The evenings were generally well received and the consensus was that the exercise should be repeated.
Topics for future discussion.
We suggested some and the voting was:
| Volunteer recruitment |
24 |
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Schools liaison |
22 |
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| Development Plans |
18 |
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Rugby First training |
14 |
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| Press and Publicity |
13 |
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Bar management |
10 |
Other suggestions were:
Obtaining non RFU grants; Pitch maintenance; How to survive as the third club in town.
