Well, the power of "The 16" continues to be so clearly demonstrated in everything that goes on at Holt rugby club. The 15 players on the pitch set the tone and make "The Team" but the membership - the 16th - make "The Club". What a year we have had at every level, it’s been a ride and a half.

On the pitches we have again celebrated great triumph.

The 1st XV, under the leadership of Tom Jackson and Phil Sharpe, have been promoted for the second season in succession and, as you may by now know, next season will play level six rugby; a level at which we have never competed previously. This is a fantastic achievement across the whole of our playing and coaching body and demonstrates the commitment of everybody on the senior playing side of the club to continue to develop players, enjoy rugby, create excitement that supporters on the touchline can join in with and, through hard work and enjoyment, produce results that we haven’t seen the like of before. We do that in the safest environment possible and I thank Graham and his medical team for the support they have given the players again. We have trained 19 more first aiders this season as a further demonstration of our commitment to player safety no matter their age.

The second team have had a very strong season too building well for the future and proving a great seed bed for aspiring1st XV players to develop. The 3rd XV, promoted in mid-season and consequently having some tough fixtures following that promotion have battled and battled, generating a great spirit and some amazing rugby themselves. There are few clubs nationally, let alone locally, who can field 3 sides every week. I thank the players, their leadership group and, of course, Phil and his amazing group of coaches for engendering such commitment and spirit.

Plans for next season are well underway with some tweaks and further improvements to the coaching team and management structures that we hope will be approved at the Annual General Meeting on the 28th July (7pm). We continue to have a clear vision of what we are trying to achieve as a whole club, when we would like to achieve it, and vitally, the manner in which we will set about achieving our goals. I reiterate the congratulations for what has been achieved in the last season and I look forward to collectively rolling up our sleeves to continue the pathway that we have embarked upon.

The minis and youth section has had a wonderful year under the leadership of Nev, and Martin as chairman of the mini section. A combination of their experience, calm assuredness, and the undeniable commitment of a vast coaching set up has meant that our numbers in the mini and youth section are above pre-Covid levels and the noise, colour, energy, excitement and enthusiasm that you will see at Bridge Road on a Sunday morning is a feast for all of your senses every week. The 2 Kingswood festivals were a clear demonstration of everything brilliant about HRFC; not least because they ran like clockwork and were enjoyed by approaching 1000 mini rugby players from all over the country. Awesome.

Freddie’s U11’s have swept all before them again and had a great time at the Land Rover Cup, while the U15s, led by Corné, had a very good tour to the Midlands. As a club, in future, the Exec have resolved to support an U15s tour every year from now on. That same squad were then successful in their cup final on the big rugby weekend with an emphatic victory to bring home the silverware. Well done all of you.

The end of the season saw celebrations at every level with a great Senior players awards evening followed, on the Sunday, by the Mini’s awards and then the Youth awards evening last Friday. Sandwiched in the middle was the Annual Dinner when we welcomed Sir Bill Beaumont, who enthralled the audience during what was an exceptional evening in every respect. We are indebted to Tom Youngs and Freddie Steward who sprinkled their magic dust at the mini and youth presentation events, respectively. They are both hugely positive role models and giants of our game who inspire all the young players that they come into contact with, and we are very grateful to them both for the time and effort that they put in on our behalf for the overall betterment of our game.

During the season, we welcomed Johnno and Laura to our club to lead the catering team, and may I thank them for everything that they have done in getting involved with the club, the quality of their catering and the grace with which they have set about their task. We also welcomed Simon to manage the premises on a daily basis for us and he has been a wonderful addition to the team.

While it is very hard to pick out individuals, I must also thank in particular Mike Bush who, for decades, has been an untiring force for good within the volunteer army of the club. Over recent seasons he has brilliantly organised the pre-match lunches, however I am sad to say he is now hanging up his knife and fork and passing that particular role on. So, it leaves me to thank him for everything he has done for the club, however I am sure that we will continue to see him pretty much every weekend and that you will all be able to thank him in your own way, when the time comes.

I have been clear throughout on the importance that we place on our volunteer body continuing to get involved in everything that goes on at Bridge Road. That has always been the case and I hope it will always be the case. The volunteer body is of course every single one of our members. It is not a restricted group of people, but we do hope and indeed expect that everybody will do a little bit when the need arises. I am yet to be disappointed. So, I thank you for all the contributions you have made through the season no matter how big or small you may have considered that contribution to be and I look forward to rekindling that enthusiasm with you when the new season commences in September. A club is only as strong as its members and on more than one occasion through this season I have been asked by people outside our club what the secret of our current success story is?

As you might expect I haven’t really got a clue what the answer to that question is other than the commitment, camaraderie, enthusiasm and humour of our members makes Holt RFC a quite exceptional place. Thank you.

As you will hear at the AGM on 28th July the Club's finances are in a strong position. The exec have some projects that we are working on that will improve the capital base of the club and therefore help control our trading expenditure. Providing value for money to our members remains a very clear objective to your exec and therefore spending some capital on improving the experience of Bridge Road is on the cards.

But we would struggle to achieve anything at all without the generosity and support of our sponsors. They are too numerous to mention individually, but each and every sponsor is valued and valuable. We thank them profusely for their support and look forward to what the future may bring as we continue to work with them for mutual benefit.

You will shortly see a brief video which has been produced to aid recruitment to the club. Of course, you may interpret that recruitment to be senior player recruitment, but it translates to recruitment at every level. From the youngest gladiators through to social members and sponsors. If you know anybody who would like to get involved at our rugby club, invite them. They will be made welcome, and I will be staggered if they don’t enjoy it. So please share that video through all your social media networks when it is released later this week, and join in a process of recruiting, developing and growing our wonderful rugby club.

Finally, may I take this opportunity to remind you of our fundraising effort to improve the floodlights on the training pitches. Those training pitches are used after dark by all our youth teams through to all the senior sides. The floodlights an important part of how we train and converting them to an LED based solution is both an economic imperative and a significant environmental benefit. Through the support of the Aviva Community Fund, we have been hugely fortunate to receive match funding. For every £1 donated Aviva match that donation, subject to a limit of £250 per donation. Many of you will have donated already, but some of you may not have done so yet. We are almost at the point of the scheme closing (23rd May) but we do need to raise a bit more dough to hit our target.

So, for those of you who were reticent about providing funding to "prime the pump", and reserved your position to fund at the tail end of the appeal once the initiative was up and running and successful, now is your moment. We have raised almost £15,000 so far which is a great position to be in, however we would like one final push to achieve our £19k target, so if you can find any sum of money, please make a contribution if you have not already done so. Please follow the link below and make your donation as soon as possible and certainly before the scheme ends on the 23rd May.

Help Holt RFC keep shining a light on rugby talent - a Environment crowdfunding project in Holt by Alistair Gibson (avivacommunityfund.co.uk)

This just leaves me to thank the Exec for all the hard work that they have undertaken on your behalf throughout the season; they have all been quite amazing. I would also like to gratefully acknowledge all for the support you have offered me and my family throughout the last few months; you know, when things get a little difficult amazing people like the members of Holt RFC really come forward and shine. May I wish you all a happy and healthy summer and I very much look forward to seeing you at the beginning of next season.

Wishing you a peaceful and happy summer.

Kind regards,

Rob

Rob Hughes
Hon Club Chair
chair@holtrfc.com
07768 642230