May 2011

And Now The End is Near

I hope that over the last few editions I have been able to provide some insight for readers into what makes an organisation like ours tick both on and off the pitch.  Whilst I may have been fortunate to hog the limelight through these short articles this should not overshadow the dozens of unseen volunteers that turn up in all winds and weathers to support our Club.

We have circa 400 members, most of whom play an active role with everything from litter collection to preparing meals, cleaning, fund raising and managing the business aspects of the Club.  By far and away the biggest contribution comes from rugby related matters where each of our teams has its own coaching staff, referee, first aider and parent chauffeurs.  A regular green and black army who carry out their tasks for no reward other than to see the organisation thrive and their youngsters do well.  It is about rugby but it is also about teaching teamwork and social skills which are transferable into the real world.  Well done to all of you.

Always quick to try and maximise the skills of our people, we are in the process of developing a database of members with specific trades or expertise which can then be interrogated by other members to provide the skills or services they are looking for.  We may widen this to the website and general access.  You would probably not be surprised that we have a number of electricians, heating engineers, motor mechanics, carpenters, plumbers, scaffolders, builders, UPVC window and door manufacturers but you probably would not have known that we also have a Professor of Microbiology, Rose Cooper, who is leading research into the antibiotic properties of Manuka honey.  As you all know, Manuka honey comes New Zealand, home of the All Blacks which brings us full-circle back to rugby matters.  Rose is no stuffy academic either and was once again our honorary lady tourist to Paris this year accompanied her husband Johnny Deux-Litres (not his real name). 

At present our First XV sit well placed in third position in Swalec League Division 3 (South East) with games to come against two sides placed below us in Taffs Well and Llandaff North plus an away match at high-flying Abercynon.  This latter game may well decide our fortunes for the season.  At the other end of the scale our under 12’s narrowly lost this week in the Cardiff Blues Cup against Pontypridd RFC at Cardiff Arms Park.  Despite the result it was a great achievement for the lads and their coaches and it is something they will not forget in a hurry and should be rightly proud of.  On a seperate note 7 of our youth team recently represented Cardiff and Vale Youth District Rugby Team in the Wynne Lewis (Pan-Wales) Inter-District Cup. 

This time of year with dry weather and sunshine (remember that?) always makes me happy that I no longer play rugby.  The pitches are becoming quite bare and hard and most players are now sporting a series of cuts and abrasions as a result of this.  We are beginning to wind down our rugby activities in preparation for a well earned rest on-the-pitch.  However, off- the-pitch will now see a flurry of activity as preparations are made for pitch enhancements, pre-season training sessions and a major approach to our generous sponsors, once again, to persuade them to continue to support us in the coming season.  This time of year is also when we implement our plans for keeping the revenue coming in as numbers using the Club inevitably fall away during the Summer months.  One suggestion has been to encourage those that continue to use the Club to drink more.  However, this was quickly dismissed.  We have 12 months of overheads and an 8 month revenue stream for the most part so we would encourage all members to use our facilities throughout the Summer.  We have ladies and mens baseball teams and a mens cricket team so we are hopeful that we can keep the tills ringing. 

One of our ex-players and Afghanistan and Iraq Veteran, Chris Newton, has just started Boxercise classes at the Club on Tuesdays 6pm-7pm.  This is open to the public and is one of the best aerobic workouts you can have.  We expect to see a number of our players taking part once the season finishes.  

If you have any questions, issues or ideas please do not hesitate to contact us at the Clubhouse on 029 20 460461 or by e-mail: admin@stpetersrfc.co.uk  

Our website can be found at: www.stpetersrfc.co.uk

 Vince Nolan

 Youth Secretary

St.Peter’s RFC