March 2011
Not for Profit is Hard Work
I have used this page in previous months to describe some of the many activities that a not-for-profit organisation like ours needs to be engaged in to try to remain afloat. You could be forgiven for thinking that rugby takes a back seat sometimes. Whisper it quietly, (and not to the players), but there are times when it has to be of secondary importance. So by way of redressing the balance, our 1st XV have hit something of a rich patch of form and lie very close to the top of their division and are sneaking up on promotion. The Second XV has only lost 3 matches this season so far and has had its ranks swelled by the presence of a number of students who are live locally and have become an important part of the Club. The Youth team beat Penarth Youth last Saturday to register their first league win of the season. Once again, the junior teams are all very successful and have provided many players for the various Cardiff Blues and Schools age groups who also use our facilities for training.
One of the major issues facing rugby clubs in particular is trying to maintain excellent facilities all year round whilst having a main income for only 7-8 months each year. For example, we have nearly 10 acres of playing fields which we fenced off at our own expense and which we are struggling to maintain. It may surprise you to know that the cost of doing so exceeds £1,000 per month and this is before we have to pay ever-increasing utility bills. Soccer clubs throughout the City do not seem to have the same issues since the majority of them run from pubs where they have little or no overheads. Rugby clubs have taken a different approach historically and despite the costs, have substantial assets which are seldom properly utilised.
We recently formed a sub-committee headed by Paul Ring to advertise and promote our facilities and to try to utilise the Club more during the daytime when most of the members are in work. Already there has been quite a diverse demand. A Bridge Club is interested in using the Club. Apparently, Bridge is becoming a very popular past time with take-up levels rising at an unprecedented rate. We have also booked a Summer Rugby School which will be run by a New Zealand Maori coaching team. This will take place over a week in August to educate school children in the Maori culture and to teach them All Black training methods and approaches to rugby.
The continuing financial pressure on Government Departments and Councils is beginning to have an effect UK-wide on their abilities to provide public services particularly those related to the leisure industry. This is not a political soapbox but the Westminster Government would do well to stop talking about the Big Society and have a look at what organisations like ours currently contribute to local society. For example, we provide sport for over 300 youngsters most weekends and they would otherwise be slumped in front of their computer screens or TV’s, or worse. The forthcoming probable closure of Eastern Leisure Centre will mean that hundreds of people every week will no longer be engaging in the much needed exercise programmes that they currently follow. Perhaps these sorts of problems can present opportunites to organisations like ours who have under-utilised but significant facilities. Leisure facilities represent a long term investment in the health of our community and we are keen to play our part.
Back to rugby. The Welsh teams’ unpredictability continues to baffle anyone who knows anything about the sport. Having narrowly lost to a poor English team they put in a 40 minute perfomance against Scotland that nobody had forecast. So what price a win in Rome? Who knows, but the major excitement within our Club at present is the forthcoming trip to Paris to watch Wales play France and for our tourists to play against French opponents. I believe it will be the 16th match between our Club and Barbarians Rugby Champagne from Soissons. Over the years we have become great friends with our French chums because it is not very often that you come across a French team who are not very good. The trip was originally made by coach and Channel ferry and overnight. As players became older and wiser the plane took over and now the latest iterration is the Eurostar which was recently described by one of our stalwarts as a mobile bar. A party of 30 will be leaving Cardiff on St.Patrick’s Day (17th March) and spending 3 uneventful nights in the City of Romance. I will of course be going along as an observer to ensure that the highest standards of decorum are maintained throughout the journey!
Vince Nolan
St.Peter’s RFC Youth Secretary
