Presidents Report

So here we are again at the start of a new season with hopes high for success.

The first XV have started the League program with an all important win against Southwold with what must be described as a makeshift line-up as a number of key players were absent.

The opposition WILL get better and so must we.

I would like to say a big thank you to my predecessor and Club stalwart, Andy Ruddick, for all his hard work as President over the last four years. His efforts will undoubtedly help to make my term a lot easier. I must however commit to making one change to his LineOut format that had us all reaching for our dictionaries! That said, I thought I'd start the this year by including a few key words and definitions to help you all along,.-

ambi'tion n. desire for success, goal, aim - ambitious a.

commit'ment n. (from commit' vt.) to do, enact, execute, perform, perpetrate. should be paid to the captain before you leave

dedica'tion n (from dedicate vt.) commit wholly to special purpose; inscribe or address.

team' work n - co-operative work by a team.

It goes without saying that if as a club, we have ambition. commitment, dedication and teamwork we are bound to succeed. In order to succeed as a players' club we most obviously need players. (A prop-forward stating the bl**dy obvious again I here you cry!!)

We must as a very minimum maintain our player base, but I believe that to achieve progress we must look to improve this. I would like to challenge each and every one of you to the introduce one player to the club this season. If they stay and play for us, then brilliant, but I believe the challenge is to get them through our door for the first time. If we achieve this then some will stay, just like you and I.Sean 0'Kane

Sponsorship

Sponsorship is always massively important to a club like ours and we must say a big Thank-you to Ian McCreadie and Andy Congleton at Screen Print Plus for their sponsorship and help in printing our new fixture card. And also to Roger Smithdale for all his hardwork with the typesetting.

Subscriptions

Tetanus

The bad news; it's nasty and it's readily available in this area.

The good news; its easily avoidable.

Playing members, please make sure your jabs are up to date.

Insurance

Cover for death and total disability is paid to RFU but this does not cover you for personal injury or loss of work. You can insure yourself against this via your own agent or contact Mark LaCock who will be pleased to assist with help and advice.

Hatches and Matches

Hatches

The Summers Catch: in alphabetical order as no dates are available

Tina and Ted Lawler - a daughter Emily

Sara and Gibbo Morris - a daughter Daisy

Lisa and Micky Pywell -  a son Billy

Matches

Tosh and Rachel Macintosh

Congratulations to one and all.

The Chair

it is that time of year again, New Hopes, New Aspirations, New Goals, No Props. It is a bit like having had a spring clean in the middle of the year.

Your coaches will have been working hard to shape all the players into perfect physical specimens. Captains will have run their mindshow best to squeeze £10 subs out of playing members before the end of the season and your committee will have been shaking down into a mean machine to ensure the overall success of the club.

The summer? it matters not. What is important is that everyone , I repeat everyone enjoys themselves and if you are not doing that, assess why not and, having assess if there is anything, (within reason), your committee can do then let us know.Cliff Horobin

Training

You have to do it or your body grinds to a halt, just look at the editors, (on second thought it might be better not to).

So share the pain! Find a partner, come together, work together, drink together and play Gods game on Saturdays.

Six Nations Tickets

It's that time of year again! if you would like to visit Twickenham and see your heroes in action, maybe have a burger and a pint or two with a few thousand others and have a generally good time you need to decide now. If you feel adventurous and want to travel to exotic places like Cardiff, Paris, Dublin, Edinburgh and for the first time ever, Rome you can also apply. Although the chance for getting tickets for these foreign places are limited the Club does usually get at least two and if there's a draw you never know it could be you.

Dates, Venues and Prices

5th February 2000   England v Ireland   £40  £35

19th February 2000  France v England (Stade de France, Paris)

4th March 2000  England v Wales  £40 £35

18th march 2000  Italy v England (Flaminio Stadium, Rome)

2nd April (Sunday)  Scotland v England (Murrayfield)

Prices for tickets for the away games are not notified in advance, we are allocated tickets and then told how much they will be - in the past they have always been cheaper than Twickenham. For example, last year I went to Lansdowne Road and the tickets were £13 each.

How To Apply

Home Games

Contact Graham Clarke or Sue Watsonand let them know how many tickets you want, how much you want to pay and which games you want to go to.

Away Games

As we don't know the prices you just need to say which games and how many tickets.

Please be aware that though the Club will almost certainly not receive all the tickets that are applied for, the amount of tickets we are allocated may only be half of what we asked for. If you want tickets it is better if you apply in your own name rather than get someone else to apply for you - if we do not get enough tickets we try to ensure that all those that apply get at least one or we hold a draw and put the names of the people who applied in the hat, so if you haven't applied in your own name you won't get any. Last year there were a few upset people who didn't get tickets for this reason and we wouldn't want that to happen again this year would we?

Closing Date

The closing date for ticket applications is Thursday 14th October money for tickets must be given to Sue by this date of tickets will not be applied for (away games excluded of course).

The Bowring Bowl - Oxford v Cambridge

Tuesday 7th December 1999

We can also apply for tickets for this match priced at £24 and £18 if anyone is interested, the same conditions apply as for the Six Nations tickets.

The Coach

With my first summer as coach completed, I had felt that we were not achieving much due to the lack of numbers and lack of commitment. Nobody seemed to be enjoying themselves and it felt more like the beginning of June rather than the end of August.

Then we played for the Amber Cup which we lost for the first time in three years and we all felt even worse. 15 men, who had not played together for three months took to the field and it really showed a lack of practice. However, as time has gone on we have started to play with more commitment and cohesiveness. This is due to the fact that we have seen a larger number of people at training and that the enjoyment level is increasing. After all we love to win and win we did. The win against Southwold was a vast improvement in the standard of rugby played. We were playing with people out of position and they came up with a determination and pride in themselves and the club which has not been seen for some time and played out of their socks.

With the two signings in the pre-season we could have a better team than ever before, we have a real chance to win the league and progress through the first few rounds of the Tetley Bitter Vase. The only way we will do this is if we continue to improve our fitness levels, (yes it's me, Frosty the Slow man), and our skill levels. We are all relying on each other to provide the club with the skill, enthusiasm, heart and presence at training so we can move forward to greater things. You all have the ability to play at a higher level, we just have to train hard so that when I next write I can have the pleasure of saying, "still unbeaten, top of the league." We have come a long way but we still have got miles to go

I hope to see you all at training next week because we all need you.

Frosty

The Clubhouse

Valuables

OK. so we insure the clubhouse but we have an excess of £200 for theft. Bottom line? If what you loose is less than £200 you get nothing, above that you get the difference. SO DON'T LEAVE VALUABLES UNLOCKED IN THE CHANGING ROOMS? Use the Valuables bag, ask your team manager, team captain, any club officer available. Use your common, make sure your valuables are locked away.

Another big thank-you to all those who turned up on our cleaning days - you know who you are - and to those who didn't or couldn't attend there's always next time.

The place is ours and needs looking after especially as we have so many visitors from far and wide.

It's expensive to replace. A shirt costs £39.99, a ball £45.00 ..or.. it takes 8 players weekly subs to replace either item. If you borrow it, make sure it goes back. Including the First Aid kit.

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