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Subject: Communications - Mini & Juniors Author: Iain Stewart - Chairman MRC M&J (Via Alec) [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] Date Posted: 04:47:31 01/31/05 Mon For those that didn't receive the handout on Sunday 30th January 2005:- Manchester Rugby Club – Sunday 23 January & Communication Ormskirk I know a number of you went to Ormskirk last week to find the games had been called off. We do try very hard to provide opportunities for the players to play and when those are denied us which regrettably has happened too often this year, as a result of weather; we try to give you as much notice as possible. I spoke with the fixtures secretary at Ormskirk on Saturday around 6pm when I advised that subject to frost or torrential rain in my view our pitches were playable. He said they had no problems with drainage on their pitches and he did not anticipate there was going to be a frost and therefore we took the view that the game was on. We agreed however that we would speak on Sunday morning to confirm. I met Tom Moston, MRC’s chairman of grounds, at 8am at our place on Sunday and we walked the pitches. At 8.30am I phoned Ormskirk and called off the under 15’s game at Manchester on the basis I could not assure Ormskirk that the pitches would be playable before about 1.00pm. At that time the fixture secretary had not carried out a pitch inspection. He said he was going down to the club at that point and would contact me. Conscious of the fact that it is a one hour drive to Ormskirk I called him twice between 8.30am and 9.15am. The discussion at 9.15am when we spoke was that their pitches were frozen that he anticipated they would thaw but it was still freezing in Ormskirk. In view of the fact that it was the mini’s who were travelling we agreed that as it was at best marginal that the games should not take place. This quite straightforwardly is a health and safety issue. Those coaches that were at the club were told immediately and had the ability to contact their teams which they worked hard to do. I managed to speak with one who had set off and one on a ski slope in Switzerland – he text his team. On this occasion there was no opportunity to post information on the website or to give you earlier warning. Text messaging – Give your coach your mobile number We discussed this issue at the M&J committee on Monday. We want to trial the coaches sending a text message to the list distribution from their mobile phones. Can I ask you therefore to make sure if you have got a mobile phone that the coach has that number? If the weather is marginal because of rain, snow or frost please do not set off without a positive confirmation that the game is on. If we have decided that the game is off on the Saturday we will post the information to the club mini and junior website which is Manchester-Rugbyyouth.com. Newsletters On the subject of the website we do post up to date and current information on that website and I strongly encourage you to review it there. From time to time there have been requests for newsletters. As a general rule we have steered away from the use of newsletter and tried to use the website. The reasons for this are as follows. 1 As we all know from dealings with children at school ‘people mail’ which is the distribution approach here is unreliable. How many of us have received notification of parent/teachers evenings which are either 2 weeks ago or tomorrow? 2 We have about 200 members and the logistics of generating and posting out newsletters in hard copy are infinitely more difficult than posting an electronic newsletter to the website. 3 The work of generating a newsletter on paper rather than electronically is far greater . It has to be printed, folded, enveloped, stamped and then posted. 4 Four newsletters a year is equivalent to sending three people on a level 1 RFU coaching course. Please advise your player’s coaches your preferences on communication. Within this feedback let them know how frequently you would like communications and what matters you would like covered together with the preferred medium for communication. We will then go with the consensus. Pitches - Knowledge, experience and expertise required It’s an understatement to say that the weather so far this season has been unkind to us. It is clear that we have to do something radical to improve the playing area. It is obvious that we need to do something dramatic in relation to drainage. In order to achieve this we need advice on what to do and then we will need substantial equipment and manpower to carry out the plan of work. This of course dismisses the other important factor of money. The constraint on the club’s cash resources is such that much of this work will have to be done a self help basis. Once we have the plan we will communicate this to you. If anybody has particular areas of expertise which would assist in the developing of the plan, in making grant applications or can come up with any other ideas which would support the funding and let us achieve the plan quicker would they please contact me? The aim as part of the plan is to look radically at the pitch layout to see if we can make better use of our land. When the plan is complete I will let you know what is proposed. Club Successes – Representative Rugby – England Honours Congratulations to Rory Price, under 16 fullback who has been chosen as fullback for the England A team – under 16. Well done Rory, this is a fantastic achievement. In addition to Rory’s success at national level we have a very significant number of players who from under 13 to under 16 are in county development squads and county squads themselves. The club continues to provide representative players to both Lancashire and Cheshire at all levels. On the team front in the EFE Junior Rugby Challenge (formerly Lancashire Cup) the under 14’s and under 16’s have qualified for the knock-out stages of the cup competition coming respectively second and first in their leagues with the under 13s and 15’s qualifying for the plate competition having achieved third place in their leagues. Dates for the Diary Tournament 2005/06 Under 7 – Under 10 25 September 2005 Under 11 – Under 12 16 October 2005 If any one has any questions or observations or can assist please contact me. Iain Stewart Chairman Mini & Junior Section 0161 439 4554 (Home) 09711 217825 (Mobile) Email: iain.stewart15@Btinternet.com [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]