Background

Minety Rugby Club was formed in 1971 as a village team. It has close links to the local community and has extended its player catchment across a wide area. Players are attracted to the club by its continuing success on the pitch and the sense of team spirit that underpins the ethos of the club.

A Junior section was re-launched in 1999 by some of the local parents. We have witnessed a growing together of the Senior and Junior sections of the club with members of the Senior Club participating in the coaching of the junior players. Currently there are a number of ex-Junior players that have moved through to play for the adult teams.

In 2003 the Junior Section introduced Girls Youth rugby teams and won a National Award from the President of the RFU in 2008 in the ‘Girl Power’ category for the progress that has been made in this area.

Even though the Club could be considered to be a small village based team we have players who have represented District, County and Regional teams.

The Senior Section has three teams – First team playing in the Southern Counties (South), Second Team play in the Dorset & Wilts and a Veterans Team.

The Junior Section has over 200 players across the various age groups.  The growth in numbers has been helped by the close links the Club has with the local schools and an active recruitment drive across the area.

Key Principles
The following key principles underpin what the club wishes to achieve. To ensure that:

1. we have a sustainable club,
2. we are a successful club,
3. the Club remains focussed at the heart of our community,
4. the Club is open, friendly and inclusive,
5. the Club is recognised and respected within the Rugby Community,
6. the Club keeps our players interests in mind,
7. the Club is progressive and capable of adapting to the changes in modern participatory sports organisations.

To deliver these values we will focus on the following activities

1. Club organisation (structure, finance, and membership)
2. Facility development (club house, grounds & equipment)
3. Support infrastructure (social, volunteers, welfare and community)
4. Schools liaison
5. Communications (recruitment, marketing and promotion)
6. Coach recruitment and development
7. Player recruitment and team development
8. Player development
9. Referee recruitment and development

Glossary of Terms

Club Infrastructure
(Structure, Finance and Membership) 

Current Position

Structure

The club currently accommodates both Junior and Senior Committees with both run independently. Historically there has been limited dialogue between the two sections however this has changed dramatically over the past couple of years and there is a mood within the club to develop this relationship further.

The junior section (minis, youth and girls) is managed by a committee consisting of a chairman, treasurer, secretary, social secretary (2), head coach (juniors), development officer and fixtures secretary. There is provision for a recruitment co-ordinator but this post has never been filled. Currently the chairman is also the welfare officer; the head coach the club coaching co-ordinator and MPFA representative and secretary the pathways officer. The girls’ section does not have a separate infrastructure but is integral to the club and has a voice on the junior committee through the junior head coach who is also the girls coach. Job descriptions exist for all roles.  

The full junior committee meets on a 2 monthly basis; a coaches’ sub-committee meets every quarter and other sub committees on an ad hoc basis.

The club has extremely good relationships with its RFU Regional Development Officer and with the North Wiltshire Sports Development Officer.

Both senior and junior sections pay the same level of rent to the MPFA and both are represented on its committee. Other roles are duplicated between both sections. There are currently no joint meetings although the junior chairman sits on the senior committee

Recruitment to both senior and junior committees is always a challenge and at both levels the club needs to improve its succession planning.

Finance
The Finance of the Junior Section is wholly determined by the larger aim of its activities that of the providing a junior rugby club that is affordable to all sections of the community. By doing this it naturally determines the level of membership subscriptions and the extent of the income generating activities the Section pursues.

The Junior Section’s raises its income from two main streams; firstly through the levy of an annual subscription based on attendance and secondly, the sale of refreshments and food on training and match days. Both of these income streams are important as both provide an excess of income over their respective expenditure.

Other less significant income streams are monies raised via an annual Christmas raffle, sundry donations, and sponsorship. On the whole, sponsorship is viewed as very welcome but as a bonus item as their occurrence is of a sporadic nature.  In addition, recent sponsorship has been for distinct purposes e.g. new kit for a particular age group, so are now regarded less important to the Section’s overall financial position.

Sale of new rugby kit is an area of high activity with significant levels of both income and expenditure. However, the Section charges a very minimal mark-up on the sale of kit, with all junior clothing being sold at cost. A mark-up is placed on adult clothing and sundry equipment, e.g., replacement boot studs and mouth guards, again this mark-up is minimal.

The above income streams are used to pay for the annual running costs of the Section. In order of annual size, typical running costs are; training courses for coaches, first aid, and referees, rugby equipment and balls, facilities rent, Club prizes and recognition awards, Christmas and End of Season parties, district affiliation fees, and general stationery costs. Significant sums are spent on the provision of match day food and new kit but both are covered by their corresponding income.

Any monies raised or spent in relation to the Section’s annual tour activities are administered wholly separate from the Junior Section administration.
The junior section has yet to take up its option for bar profit share on a maximum of two events staged during the course of the year. 

Membership

Registered mini and youth players become ‘playing members of Minety RFC however no provision other than full adult member is made for parents, coaches and volunteers.

Future Position

Structure

The two sections of the club have moved closer together in recent years and this impetus will increase as more junior players progress to senior rugby and senior players’ children take up mini rugby. It is in recognition of this that the club has produced an whole club development plan and aspires to be he first club in Wiltshire to achieve Seal of Approval for the whole club.

To establish a sustainable club and deliver the Club Development Plan the current club management arrangements will need to be reviewed. The objective will be to bring together the junior and senior committees to deliver this plan and provide a sustainable management infrastructure. We have not been presumptuous on how and when this will take place and what shape this will be but propose to use the RFU to facilitate a whole club audit and use that as the basis to achieve this goal during the life of this plan. However in the first instance the club will hold joint senior / junior committee meetings on a quarterly basis.

Finance

It has been the aim of the Junior Committee in the last five years to run a modest surplus of income over expenditure to build up its financial position and provide cash flow stability, particularly in the very early part of each season. The ultimate aim of this steadily increasing surplus is to be in position to enable a small element of ‘match funding’ on any future grant application.

Membership

Work with the senior club to establish membership options for Junior Coaches, Volunteers and parents.
 

Action Plan – Club Infrastructure
(Structure, Finance and Membership)

Facility Development

Current Provision
Club House
The club house is owned by the Parish Council and run through Minety Playing Field Association (MPFA) to which both junior and senior sections are members. Other clubs sharing the facility include football, cricket and tennis as well as social activities such as skittles. Although the responsibility of the building lies with the MPFA much of the day to day maintenance is carried out through the rugby club and one individual in particular.

The club house was built by volunteers in 1971 but since then has not kept pace with the growth of the club.

• Junior rugby (with over 200 members) has outgrown the facility and has difficulty accommodating people on match days and at Mini and youth events.
• Changing accommodation is archaic, insufficient, and with one shared shower area. This not only provides problems on mini rugby match days but also for the club’s thriving girl’s U15s and U18s girl’s rugby section.
• The football team who share the site is very successful; however promotion is restricted because of inadequate changing facilities.

• The facilities are not DDA compliant and we have parents who are wheel chair bound.
• The kitchen is basic and doesn’t meet the needs of the clubs.
• There are limited toilet facilities (particularly for women - 1 loo) and access to the main male toilets is through the shower area (not good when encouraging children to come and watch the seniors play matches).
• The absence of a separate meeting room restricts the use of the site.
• The whole of the facility is tired and in need of refurbishment or replacement.
• There is no first aid / physio room or facility for weight / indoor training

In 2007/08 the MPFA (through the work of rugby members) undertook a feasibility study to develop the facility and a 2 stage process to build new changing rooms and to refurbish the site was proposed. The club met with the RFU and Football Club with the FA both of whom supported the principle of such a development. However it was evident that there was an appetite for something more substantial. The MPFA requested that each club establish a development plan for its sport from which an overarching plan for the site would emerge to support any such development.
Recently land adjacent to the club house was bought by a developer. At a meeting to discuss access a suggestion was made to explore a land swap between the developer’s plot and the village hall (also in need of replacement) and provide a new village facility inclusive of hall and sports pavilion. Both the developer and parish council were open to exploring this option.

Grounds
The club owns 2 rugby pitches in addition to having use of the 1st XV pitch and 3 mini pitches which are owned by the Parish Council. They also provide cricket and football pitches, tennis courts, cricket nets and a playground.
Minety is renowned for its clay which presents problems with mid winter fixtures, particularly because the only floodlit area for training is the 1st XV pitch which as a consequence has to accommodate youth and senior training as well as 1st XV matches. This problem will be compounded as the club progresses to a full compliment of youth teams.
The club is responsible for the maintenance of its pitches and this is heavily reliant on a very small volunteer base particularly the endeavours of one individual. The MPFA periodically caries out general maintenance on the site but invariably this is led and in the majority resourced by rugby club volunteers.
The car park is small and despite negotiating the use of the local school Minety often resembles a car park on Saturdays and Sunday. The club is very much indebted to the good will of the villagers. Lack of car park marking and poor utilisation of space compounds the problem. Currently emergency access has to be marked with cones.
Access to the pitches is along a long narrow concrete path followed by a gravel path neither suitable for wheel chairs.
Until a few years ago the MPFA also accommodated hockey but the lack of an artificial surface resulted in them moving elsewhere.

Sign posting to the club is inadequate.

Equipment
Equipment falls into 2 categories rugby specific and thus owned by the club and that which is shared with other clubs. The club is reasonably equipped with basic training equipment however storage is chronic and in need of replacement. Both senior and junior sections buy equipment independently and as a consequence loose out on economies of scale. Floodlighting consists of old RAF landing lights powered by a combination of 2 generators housed in sheds (and manually cranked) and a couple by electricity. None are energy efficient and players have to use torch light to get to the generators and light switches.
Grounds maintenance equipment is owned by the MPFA and is limited and dated. The equipment is housed in a garage that is in need of replacement.

Future Provision

The club needs to develop its facilities if it is to sustain its current growth, leave alone accommodate the aspirations within this plan.

Whilst this plan will identify the needs of the rugby club we have to be mindful that the site accommodates other clubs and is run through the MPFA. However the rugby club is by far the biggest and most active club on the site and is in the best position to offer to take a lead on this work.

Exploratory talks with interested parties should commence immediately as the time appears appropriate from all perspectives. Namely: The Rugby and Football clubs and their governing bodies ( RFU & FA), together with the  MPFA, Parish Council, Developer and Village Hall Committee.

However bringing such aspirations to fruition will take time and in the interim, either individually or through the MPFA, the club must address the more pressing issues that don’t cut across future aspirations.

Action Plan – Facility Development

Support Infrastructure
(Social, Volunteer Community and Welfare activities)

Social Infrastructure

Current Provision

Minety has a reputation of providing a warm friendly rugby environment for senior and junior players as well as supporters and parents. This is something the club wants to maintain and enhance through its development.

New players and parents to the club are positive about the reception they receive but this is very much down to individuals and no formal welcome pack exists.

Social activities for junior players is good, Christmas and end of season parties and awards events are held for both minis and youth players and funded from within subscriptions. Despite the rapid growth of the junior section the club strives to maintain a one club atmosphere and whole club trips to rugby matches are arranged. Even so shear numbers (and age range) has meant that separate youth and mini end of season events are now held. In recent years we have introduced touring to the youth boys’ and girls’ teams. Reflecting our one club ethos all boys’ youth teams have toured together but as the number of teams grow the logistics of this will be more challenging. Tours have been a great incentive to player recruitment and retention. Girls’ teams have also had trips to women’s’ international matches.

Parent and volunteer social activities exist but need to be more structured. Currently this is limited to an annual coaches / volunteers curry evening and to the  running of two skittles teams in local leagues. Recent tour fundraising activities have brought forward new volunteers and provided a social environment for both players and parents from all age groups. Recognising the need to structure these activities a social secretary role (2 volunteers) has been added to the junior committee.

Joint social activities between the seniors and juniors and / or adults from the juniors is currently limited to the annual club dinner.

Future Provision

The benefits of an active social infrastructure are numerous and not limited to the recruitment and retention of players / volunteers and fund raising. Social activities are at the heart of the club and we would be well served to recognise this and approach it in a more structured and planned way. We already organise an array of events each year however these are promoted individually and generally quite late. An annual programme of activities needs to be produced for the club at the start of each season. Such information could then be included in welcome packs for new players, parents and supporters and advertised locally.

Volunteer infrastructure

Current Provision

In common with most clubs we struggle to recruit enough volunteers and often the same faces are recycled in different roles. The juniors have drafted job descriptions and actively advertised roles within the club but with limited success and not for sustained periods.

Some volunteer roles are duplicated between the Junior and senior sections, whilst this may be appropriate it has never been challenged and there may be economies of scale in considering the whole club need.

Future Provision

Social events have shown that people are more likely to volunteer if they feel part of the club; particularly parents who are one stage removed from rugby activities. It is therefore important to recognise and exploit the value of social activities to recruit volunteers as well as in recruiting and retaining players.

One off recruitment drives tend to be hit or miss. Sustained campaigns are more likely to be rewarded and the club must maintain a profile of its needs for volunteers.

Often people have skills sets from their personal or professional backgrounds that are transferable to the needs of a rugby club but don’t make the link.  A skills audit of parents and supporters may identify untapped resources.

People generally don’t volunteers blindly; outline job descriptions for all volunteer roles may remove reticence in some people.

The volunteer infrastructure needs to be considered alongside any future reflection on the management arrangements within the club and their alignment to meeting the needs of this Development Plan.

Welfare Infrastructure

Future Provision

The club has had difficulty in recruiting a welfare officer role and whilst this function is adequately covered by the Junior Chairman it is not ideal. The club has actively supported volunteers and coaches in attending training courses in Child Protection and Equity matters and all junior coaches and regular volunteers have been CRB cleared or are awaiting returns.

Medical records and contact details are kept for all players in the junior section. All team coaches are equipped with first aid equipment and most teams have at least one coach who has a first aid qualification.
The club has recently and currently reviewed its:

• Equality policy
• Codes of conduct
• Disciplinary Procedures
• Heath and Safety Policy
• Child Protection Policy
• Welfare Policy
• Emergency Procedures

Future Provision

As identified under facilities there are DDA issues within the club house and its environs that can only be addressed through major development of the site. However remarking the disabled parking bay is an immediate concern.

A key activity for the club will be to recruit and train a dedicated Welfare officer and through them ensure the clear communication of all the club’s welfare policies and practices.

Community Standing

Current Provision

The club cannot underestimate its profile and role within the community. Membership of the club is probably in excess of the population of the village. The impact of club activities can affect the day to day life in the locality and must be recognised (parking and associated Health & Safety concerns, noise etc). Fortunately many of the clubs’ members are villagers and the club has a good standing in the community. However this shouldn’t be taken for granted and it should work to maintain this profile. This will be particularly important in the context of any future development of the site.

The club actively supports the local school not only in its provision of rugby activities but also for events and fetes. Support is provided to other schools in the area, as well as local cub packs and the provision of marshals for a local triathlon. In addition to club representatives on the Playing Fields association a number of other club members attend as parishioners and hold roles including that of Chairman and treasurer.

Future Provision

The club will maintain its support for schools as community groups. It will work with the MPFA to develop the capacity of the car park to reduce congestion on surrounding roads. As part of its communications plan the club will advertise all fixtures locally so that villagers are aware of busy times. The Club will forge closer links with other community groups e.g. Parish Council.

Action Plan – Support Infrastructure
(Social, Volunteer Community and Welfare activities)

School Liaison
Current Provision

Minety currently has formal school club agreements with 1 secondary school (Malmesbury) and 5 Primary schools (Minety, Lea & Garsdon, St Sampsons, Crudwell and Hullavington ). The club has an identified schools’ liaison officer for each school and a schools’ liaison co-ordinator. Jobs descriptions have been adopted for both roles.

Secondary Schools
The club has an extremely close relationship with Malmesbury Secondary School. To introduce more girls to rugby we run weekly (1.5hr) after school training sessions during the Autumn Term. These attract up to 20 girls on each occasion, a number of whom have now taken up rugby with Minety RFC. As consequence girls at Malmesbury have, for the first time been able to include rugby achievements as part of their GCSE assessments.  In a joint venture with North Wiltshire District Council’s Sports Development Officer the club has previously attained RFU coaching support to extend these sessions. These endeavours contributed to the club coming runners up nationally in the ‘Girl Power’ section of the RFU’s Presidents XV Award in 2008.

Our coaches also support the school with year 7 rugby by coaching, refereeing and managing teams at matches etc. This first year at Secondary school is for many the first time they are exposed to rugby. Our involvement the club has attracted a number of new players to the club and  reach children who had experienced TAG rugby at Primary school and had attended our annual Primary Schools TAG Tournament.

Primary Schools
The club has strong links with a number of Primary Schools. For a number of years we have supported our local primary school (Minety) running a school rugby club that attracts up to 30 players from a school population of only 100. We manage the school teams who have successfully competed in matches and local / regional tournaments. We have also been successful in attaining local authority rugby resources for the school. We also provide coaching and team management for the nearby Crudwell Primary School.

In a Joint venture with North Wiltshire District Council’s Sports and the RFU we have been instrumental in attaining RFU coaching support for 3 local primary schools during the summer term.

For the past 5 years we have hosted an annual primary schools TAG festival. This has attracts up to 16 teams and is extremely well received. The Club meets all the costs for this event and it is very well supported through our volunteers, North Wiltshire District Council and Malmesbury Secondary School.

Our work has not gone unrecognised and in the past have been nominated by the North Wiltshire Sports Development Officer for a visit from a Sporting Champion. For: ‘’Encouraging Tag rugby development in local schools, providing a local area festival for Primary schools and looking to increase junior membership’’.

Future Provision
Outreach work with schools is critical to the future aspirations of the club.
We plan to maintain existing support to primary schools and expand our network of liaison officers to cover all schools in our area.
We need to consolidate and expand existing support to our key target areas at year 7 and girls. Maintaining activities in Malmesbury and expansion into Braydon Forest Secondary Schools are planned however we need to adopt a different approach if this is to be achieved as existing capacity is limited.
With joint funding from the RFUW we have trained two U18 girls to Level 1 standard and have an agreement with Malmesbury schools for them to take after school girl’s ruby. We plan to make formal proposals to the RFUW to develop this as a pilot for that will address, recruitment, player development and coach development.
The club will also seek sources of funding to engage coaches to expand its schools support.
 The role of the schools liaison officers include maintaining a club profile in the school and surrounding community (maintaining posters etc) however this is something that has yet to be developed.

Action Plan - School Liaison

Communications
(Recruitment, Marketing and Promotion)

Current Provision
The club does not consciously promote itself locally or regionally.  Internal and external communications within the club is unstructured, fragmented and incomplete. The limited marketing and promotion activities that take place are undertaken in isolation and not part of a sustained activity.
The club lacks identity and there is no overarching branding framework.
Senior teams are well served by a press officer and have a good profile for match reports. The press officer supports the junior section however they have no clear process to exploit such support.
Both sections have notice boards but these are cluttered and unattractive. A senior newsletter used to be produced but had limited distribution. A couple of the youth teams draft infrequent newsletters for their players and parents. Prior to the start of each season letters and information is circulated to all junior parents and players (both past and current) but there is no introduction pack for new members.
School liaison roles include responsibilities to maintain a profile of the club in their schools and it’s environ but to date they have not been supplied with materials to carry out this function.
Electronic communications with parents and players is developing but not complete and very limited use is made of text communication with youth players. The Club web site is dated, does not serve the junior section very well and has no provision for girls’ rugby. Links to and from other sites are incomplete. General information on rugby first is incomplete and out of date.
MOCHA (Minety Online Coaching Handbook and Assistant) communicates coaching issues but not all coaches are accessing the site on a regular basis.
Recruitment of players, volunteers and coaches is mainly by word of mouth, there has been no specific or sustained recruitment drives.
Social events are generally promoted late and with a limited circulation.
A recent survey was taken by the junior section and covered ‘Organisation & Facilities’, Coaching and Communication. The findings were very encouraging in all the categories. It was clear that communication could be improved as could certain aspects of the infrastructure. The coaching and general ‘feel’ of the club was perceived as being very good. This information was fed into the development plan in the various sections.

Future Provision
Clear communications are imperative for the club to develop, so much so that action should be take in advance of  any broader consideration of the club’s infrastructure (although it doesn’t prevent it being reconsidered as part of that process). The activity needs a focal point and resource (both volunteers and financial).
A lead officer and cross club sub committee needs to be set up to establish and deliver a communication strategy expanding on the outline activities identified within this section of the development plan.

Action Plan - Communications
(Recruitment, Marketing and Promotion)

Coach Recruitment and Development.

Current Provision

The club currently boasts 22 Junior and one senior coach. Standards are good with 15 Level 1 coaches and 3 at level 2. Most age groups have at least 1 coach that is first aid qualified and all are either CRB cleared or in the process of being cleared.

All coaches have agreed Job Descriptions

Attendance on development courses is high.  A Club Coaching Co-ordinator circulates details of courses when they become available and also collates information into a summary for quarterly circulation. The club has a documented policy and process for attendance at courses and refunds 100% of course fees. When practical the club plays host to training courses and periodically runs internal ‘master classes’ to share learning.

The club maintains a data base containing detailed individual coach training records these feed into summary documents that plot the extent of training and expertise within the club. The club subscribes to weekly coaching publications and maintains MOCHA (Minety on line Coaching Handbook and Assistant) which provides coaches with an on line library of support documents, training plans and links to rugby support web sites. The club maintains a library of DVD, CD Roms and videos for coaches’ use.
The club has identified the need to develop specialist coaches in a number of disciplines but to date recruitment into these roles has been limited to a Front Row / Forwards specialist and two SAQ (speed agility, quickness) specialists.

Coaching cover is adequate but some age groups fair better than others both in terms of numbers and level of coaches.

Coaches have started to use video analysis and player development plans but both initiatives are in their infancy.

Coaches meet on a quarterly basis but often agendas are diluted with non coaching issues that should be dealt with elsewhere. Succession planning is a concern for the senior club who rely on the endeavours of one coach and in the junior section limited up to a 4 month run in period at the start of the season. A process exists to encourage new coaches into the youngest age group, were 2 permanent coaches support new coaches in their first year before they move on with their children.

Most coach recruitment is by word of mouth and drawn from the parent base.

Future Provision

For the club’s development plan to succeed we need to recruit more coaches and to improve the knowledge and experience of new and existing coaches. We believe that the quality of coaching is so critical that a more detailed Coach Development Plan will be draft to expand on the detail herein and that this will form one of a suite of such plans underpinning the Club’s Development Plan (others include player and facility development plans). Such a plan will set out the clubs philosophy and standards and ensure continuity between age groups.
The club will aim to provide

• A coach : player ratio of 1:5 at U6 – U8 and 1:10 at all other Mini and Junior age groups.
• At least one Level 1 coach for each Mini age group and at least one Level 2 for each Youth team.
• One Level 2  coach across all mini age groups and one Level 3 coach in the club.
• All coaches with CRB clearance within 8 weeks of joining the club
• Coaches that have attended child protection training in each age group
• A first aid qualified coach in each age group

Succession planning is imperative particularly at senior level were there is only 1 coach. Junior coach commitments will be sought each April prior to the next season. The club will pursue an ongoing and active coach recruitment campaign to attract new coaches and will strengthen the reward and recognition of coaches through the provision of coaching jackets and polo shirts.

The club will maintain its existing coaching support infrastructure and augment this with the introduction of an induction process and package for all new coaches and a more proactive approach to identify individual coaches’ development needs.

To provide a balanced coaching infrastructure the club will build on the existing pool of specialist coaches. Each specialist ensuring their particular discipline is utilised throughout the club. As numbers of coaches grow we will expand the base of knowledge by encouraging coaches to get involved with district and county initiatives and explore the potential to learn from the senior coaching environment

We will review the use of MOCHA, the online coaching resource and add to the library of ‘hard resources available. The availability of coaching courses will be profiled on a quarterly circulation of all coaching course availability.

Action Plan – Coach Recruitment & Development

Player Recruitment and Team Development
Current Provision

The club fields 2 senior teams and an occasional veteran side. The 1st XV plays in Southern Counties whilst the 2nd XV currently tops Dorset & Wilts Division.3.
The junior section has grown exponentially from a base of 12 players in 2001/02 to over 200 in 2008/09. Even so there are still insufficient numbers to field strong squads in all age groups and currently there are no boy’s teams above U15 (2008/09).
In recent years the club has developed a successful youth girls section and since 2007 has had a joint arrangement with Cirencester RFC (a similar sized club) which enables both clubs to field a joint team at both U15 and U18.
Growth in a number of age groups (particularly U12s, U15s and Girls) has bucked local trends. Consequently fixtures (especially U12s) have been hard to come by.
The last couple of seasons have seen the first junior section players progress to the senior teams although with the absence of a current U16s and U17s this flow will be interrupted. Whilst some girls attend Gloucester Rugby Academy and have had training sessions with Supermarine Ladies, there is currently no clear progression route to senior rugby.
As a village the clubs local player base is small. Players at all levels are drawn from a 30 mile radius, some travelling past their local clubs en route. Teams generally ‘punch’ above their weight at all levels and the club proudly claims to be the highest placed village side in England.
Junior recruitment is primarily on word of mouth and through out reach work with schools. Little or no formal recruitment exists within the senior section. Club contacts are publicised locally and occasionally press releases and articles for parish magazines are produced.
Teams are developing rapidly but to date only the current U13s have been entered into cup competitions.
The club has a registered Pathways Officer but there appears to be little or no RFU activity with this initiative.

Future Provision
The club wishes to be able to field strong teams at all junior age groups and annually feed players into the senior squads to augment external recruitment. We will achieve this through a formal recruitment campaign that is an integral part of a club Communications / Marketing Strategy.
At junior levels recruitment will target recruitment to existing age groups with year on year natural progression ensuring the club will have team at all levels by 2012. Ultimately this should provide a succession of players into senior squads to support sustainability / expansion in that area. 
With planned growth in numbers and the introduction of coach and player development strategies we will identify growth and success targets for all age groups.

Action Plan – Player Recruitment and Team Development
Team Progression

• SC = Southern Counties, D&W = Dorset & Wilts, WC = Wilts Cup, Q =  Quarter final, S = Semi final, F = final, W = Winner

No	Action	Timescale	Resp	Cost	Progress
	Identify a progression route for U18s girls players into senior rugby	April 2010	HJC	-
	Consider targets for all age groups as appropriate	Dec 2009	HJC / C	-

 

Action Plan – Player Development

Action Plan - Referee Recruitment and Development