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CLUB & VOLUNTEER SUPPORT
What are the Club Communication Meetings all about?
The SWRU Committee sees two way communication with its member clubs as paramount and has planned a series of club communication events for the coming season to ensure that the clubs are kept well informed and have opportunity to share information, ideas and opinions with the Committee.
The aim of these 3-4 hour evening meetings will be to launch the new SWRU Club Support Manual, provide relevant and useful information and to gather information from and about the club game.
Details of Club Communications meetings for 2007/8 is available.
Who should come?
We hope that every club will be able to send at least one representative from their club committee. Any club member will be welcome as will representatives from schools, universities and/or clubs who are thinking about introducing women or girls rugby.
In addition to the club communication meetings the National Development Officer will be working with the SWRU committee to identify eight ‘Focus Clubs’ each year.
What does it mean to be a Focus Club?
The National Development Officer will focus her time on helping the selected clubs to achieve defined outcomes by the end of the season. Each club will have been supported in creating and/or reviewing their club development plan for the next three years. This will include exercises such as:
• identifying volunteer needs
• creating training plans where appropriate
• identifying potential local funding and writing bids
• creating local, practical partnerships to support the development of women/girls rugby
Unfortunately being a Focus Club does NOT mean that the National Development Officer will deliver your club training sessions or that your club will receive any financial assistance from the SWRU/SRU.
How can my club become a Focus Club?
Any club can be selected as a Focus Club and each year the list will be selected by the committee and National Development Officer, with input from Club Development Officers and Regional Development Managers, against the SWRUs agreed criteria. Have a look at the criteria given below and see if your club could match up when it comes to next year’s selection process. Well done to this year’s selected clubs. We will also aim to include a range of clubs and to reflect the strategic priorities of the SWRU.
Criteria for identification of Focus Clubs
• Currently has or is interested (has identified coaches/SVQ’s) in developing U16 rugby
• Strong committee structure
• Well organised & run - good at communicating re: fixtures etc and replying to requests for information
• Club as potential for growth or further development - e.g starting an U16 teams, increasing senior player base
• Club/Committee is proactive in identifying volunteers within their club
• Club/Committee is proactive in general.
• Club/Committee is proactive in approaching the SWRU for help/support/advice
• Supported/integrated with the Men’s side of their club
• Women’s development goals fit into the overall club development goals
• Uni’s are well supported by their sports union/student union/sports department/university
Help for Clubs
The
sportscotland
‘help for clubs’ website provides Sports Clubs with pr
ac
tical advice about how to manage and develop your activities. It contains guidance on running an effective sports club, simple template documents for many administrative functions, case examples of how other clubs have organis
ed
their affairs, suggestions for increasing club income, and links to other useful sources of help (including sports develo
pm
ent officers employed by local authorities and sports national governing bodies). To stay fully informed, you can register to receive the periodic Club Update newsletter by email. Check out www.helpforclubs.org.uk.
If you are struggling for players
If you think you might be struggling for players for a particular match then there are a number of things that can and should be done to ensure that the match goes ahead and as many people are play rugby each week as possible.
- Know the rules (SWRU Rules and Regulations 6.7 - Borrowing Players)
Any team is allowed to borrow players to enable them to fulfil a fixture. Normally, 2 players can be borrowed but, with the agreement of the opposition, this can be increased if necessary and other stipulations on who can be borrowed can be waived, again providing the other team is in agreement (Rule 6.7.9). Agreement of both teams must be received in writing but the moral of the story is don’t give up - there may be another way to get the fixture played even if it looks like a lost cause!
- Let the other team and the Domestic Fixtures Coordinator know as soon as possible
You should really let the other team know no later then Thursday evening if there is even a small chance that numbers will be a problem for the upcoming game. It means that both you and they are prepared for what may happen and it gives them a chance to think about letting you borrow more players if needed. Letting the Domestic Fixtures Coordinator know also helps - she will be able to help you with contacts for teams that could be approached for borrowing of players. Teams in the National Development League will always be a good place to start if there is no NDL day/tournament on the match day. You also need to inform the Domestic Fixtures Coordinator if both teams have agreed on alternative borrowing rules so letting her know in advance will smooth things over here and allow different options to be discussed. The SWRU will always be more supportive of clubs that have fully discussed their problems with us rather than just defaulting fixtures.
- If all else fails - play a friendly
It may seem like defeat but playing a friendly can really help develop players and ultimately retain them in the game for both your club and the opposition. At the end of the day, this should be the aim for all clubs - much better 20 players playing a 10-a-side friendly than 20 players twiddling their thumbs and getting frustrated with not playing a game! It will also affect you league position which now primarily depends on the number of fixtures played (rule 4.20). In any league, playing the friendly gains you a league point and in the National League, playing the friendly will stop the fixture being counted as a default so you won’t end up at the bottom of the table.
Between us we can ensure that more players are playing more rugby, more often. A bit of determination and good communication will help maintain and develop the women’s game hugely so please, if you are struggling, get in touch and good luck for all your games this season.
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