Schuylkill River Exiles R.F.C

It appears that my rugby life has come full circle and I am back as President, a role I enjoyed (or endured) during the first 6 years of this club's existence when we were in much leaner times as a start up club working our way up the ladder. I have been in each of your shoes and have been part of the rugby game for half of my life. I have served our club in various capacities - administrator (President, Treasurer, filled in as Match Secretary), Captain, player and Coach. While I am certainly not a visionary in the class of a Steve Jobs, I will say that I had a vision of starting a center city based Philly rugby team coming out of college. You, along with a long list of alumni, have made that dream become a reality. We’ve come a long way since our inception back in 1995. We were not a blip on many teams radar until we rapidly rose through the Divisions in the late 90's and early 2000's. Now, here we are, firmly entrenched as a Division 1 club for almost a decade. After some recent lean years, the club's resurgence is encouraging and should be applauded. We have a strong dedicated base of talent that needs to be supported as we continue to grow and stay together. The club is in the playoff hunt for the first time in years and 15's head coach Bill Jalbert deserves credit for turning around a 1-8 season last fall to generating 4 wins this fall, with two to make up in March '12.

While I appreciate each of your support as the newly selected President, much work has to be done in keeping this club moving forward. I want to be clear, this club has always been run on gathering consensus on larger issues that impact the club as a whole. No one person will ever make a unilateral decision involving the club’s direction; I will make sure that continues. If others have suggestions re area’s that need attention, I’d be open to hearing your ideas, however, be judicious and realistic in your responses as I am not about setting unrealistic expectations for the club and its Officer’s.

Thanks again for appointing me the New Club President,

Chris Bailey