This open letter is intended to bring you up to speed with activity & decisions at the club, a note from the new club captain and key rugby dates for your diary.

Club Coaching Structure

Following a strategic review of the last 2 seasons, decisions have been taken to put in place a more ridged coaching structure which will hopefully maximise enjoyment and development during training. The aim is to have a structure and plan for each session/block that will assist players in their development both individually and collectively and then follow through into the performances of all senior teams on a Saturday. These decisions were taken on the back of feedback from the playing base of the club and are aimed at maximising the skill sets and knowledge we have internally.

The structure for 2014/15 is as follows;

Chair of Rugby – Gareth Oakley (Overall responsibility for all ‘on field matters’ for Didsbury Toc H RFC)

Head Coach - Steve Papoola – (Overall Responsibility for Coaching & Player/Squad Development)

Backs Coach – Jamie Peacock (assisted by Dave Hoare (v.c))

Defensive Coach – Andy Papoola

Fitness Coach – Enita Okodiko (assisted by Aidan Murphy)

Support Coaches – Iain Bailey (Forwards) & Richard Massingham (Backs)

Preseason 2014-15

Pre-season will officially commence on Tuesday 8th July at 7:00pm at the club and will continue every Tues (7-8:30) Thurs (7-8:30) & Saturday (2-3:30) at Ford Lane. July will be run by Enita and will be aimed at getting all players up to a core fitness level. This will be done with plenty of ball in hand and use of new training equipment to maintain enjoyment whilst we’re blowing out of our (insert as appropriate)

As we move into August the sessions will be aimed at core skills, team play and introducing the methodology, moves and play patterns we want to run throughout the senior club. These will be run by the coaches as above and will hopefully mean we enter the season fit and ready to go having enjoyed the sessions.

Details of pre-season fixtures will be announced in due course but will be likely to be in the last 2 weeks of August.

A Note Tom Makin – Club Captain 2014/15

Gents
Firstly id like give a mention to Mike Hyde who steps down after a great 7 years of captaincy and say how excited I am to be taking over the reins.
I can't wait to hit this season running and really make a push towards the top of each league from 1XV-4XV. With a great new coaching set up all we need is to keep the commitment to training and game days to see this happen! I’d like to say a big thanks for all the supporters over the last season and hope this continues.
Let's hit pre –season hard and here’s to making a strong start to the season
See you all on the 8th if not before

Tom

Thanks for taking the time to read this update. Please keep an eye on the Facebook, Twitter feed and Website for updates and messages.

Cheers

Gaz Oakley
Chair of Rugby