July 2012 Club Update!

At Bury Broncos we are keen to keep all our sponsors and friends up to date on what we are up to as we look to further grow the club. The first half of this year has seen us expand considerably in a very short space of time – it's been a very busy spell!

The highlights of the year so far…

Our open age side (sponsored by RLFANS.COM) have started the season very well and currently sit 5th in the league and are pushing for a promotion spot. So successful was open age recruitment that we are running TWO open age teams this year with the ‘A’ Team in the running for the end of season League play-offs
The Under 9s (sponsored by Bolton Media Group) have completed every fixture this season with ever improving rugby. The Broncos U9s regularly have more players than their opposition despite being new this year!
The Under 11s (sponsored by Automatic) have played every week are ever improving. The side has made great progress considering they are a new side and playing the game for the first time!
Our regular U7s ‘cubs’ group continue to train and grow – they will form the basis of a new U7s/U8s side in 2013
In addition - we’ve added new junior sides! Never part of the plan but following great work by the Rugby League Development Officer we’ve added both U13s and U15s to the mix, playing informal friendlies and training each week. Over 35 players have been attending sessions for around 6 weeks which is an amazing result – the sides have played two games away from home and will hopefully play another in Bury soon. A special mention must go to Philips High School who won the North West Schools Cup at Yr 10 level beating schools from all over the North West – it is unsurprising that some lads from that side have been scouted by Salford demonstrating the local talent that exists.

The result of all the above is that as it currently stands – EVERY age group can train and potentially play RL within the Borough! Compared to just a single adult team this time last year…a truly remarkable progression in such a short space of time!

Our plans for the rest of the year…

This year our plan was always to launch a new junior side, and increase both our financial and volunteer capacity to enable us to grow. The huge increase on the playing side of the club, from just one side to having seven has been a massive change to what we do.

Our plans for the rest of the year therefore are to develop the junior sides so that they provide the base for many further years of growth within the club – but it also means we need to have an ever greater focus on our capacity to grow. Upcoming priorities will be:

To work with the Rugby Football League (RFL) to potentially run a dedicated Level 2 coaching course somewhere close to Bury where we can aim to get a further 8 to 12 qualified coaches trained and look to fund this through increased fundraising (each course is £200)
To increase fundraising building on the work done earlier in the year. In March the club ran a race night raising £1,200 and our annual Casino Night will take place in September. Sponsors are always essential and any support will be hugely welcomed. The club will also be doing a bucket collection at Salford City Reds v Widnes Vikings and will be doing our annual trip to the Super League Grand Final in October. Fundraising will be ever more essential as we grow.
Continue conversations with Bury Council looking to identify a site for long-term development, particularly one that would allow for the increased number of sides the club are currently running and further expansion. Long-term development will require the club to have a long-term lease on a site and this is something we will press Bury Council to provide.

It's a lot of work so all help is appreciated! If you know of anyone interested in helping the Broncos then please, download this update here LINK and pass it on!