Head Coach Dan Cox has announced he is to step down from his role as Head Coach at the club at the end of the 2018/19 season. This week members of the rugby committee sat down with Head Coach Dan Cox, whilst it wasn’t an easy decision to make for him personally it is the right one as his career moves in a slightly different direction. The committee fully support and understand his decision as he embarks on a new and exciting chapter in his career.

Dan is about to finish his master’s and alongside this he has recently been offered a full-time 9-5 lecturers’ role with SGS College as a Sports Coaching Lecturer, which will give both himself and his partner Amy some much needed stability and normality at home. The time that’s needed to commit to the role at Avonmouth combined with his new role as a full-time lecturer & his ever evolving role as a lead coach at the Bears Academy PDG North would be far too demanding.

Dan has said ‘I would like to thank you all from the bottom of my heart, I have grown at the club, learnt a lot, laughed and enjoyed meeting new people. The players have shown nothing but endless support. There are many people behind the scenes who have supported me which is the reason the club was, is and will be a very special place for many years. Barracks Lane will always have a place in my heart, I see it as my club.’

He went on to state ‘I leave in my mind having not completed my goal of getting the club back to where they once were but having enjoyed such success elsewhere with the club by securing the Bristol Combination Vase winners, Gloucestershire County Cup winners and Runners Up, high training numbers, stability and new exciting attacking playing style. I always wanted to leave the club in a better place than I found it which I feel I have done and create echoes I’ll never get to hear ’

With four games left until the end of the season Dan and the Club Committee feel its important to push on and finish the season on a high, ‘Finishing my time at the club on a high is hugely important to me, I’d love to see the boys push on and bring some real intensity to the remainder of the season. We have a great chance at securing 4th in the league for the 1st XV and 2nd in the league for the 2nd XV which considering the amount of injuries we’ve sustained this season would be a huge positive’.

As a club we wish Dan all the very best in his new role as a Sports Coaching Lecturer with SGS & his evolving role with Bears PDG North & thank him for all his commitment, time and efforts over the last 3 seasons with us. We hope he looks back at his time at Barracks Lane as a positive and happy experience.
The Rugby Committee will in good time look to seek a successor to Dan. As at any club, we are no stranger to being in this postion of seeking a new head coach. The positive is that with plenty of notice that Dan has given it puts us in a strong position to find the right person to fit the needs of the players and the club.
We will be looking for someone who can harness and work with what has been built over the previous 3 seasons, whilst having a passion to develop the many young players we have within our senior ranks further so that they can thrive.

George Ralph

Chairman
Avonmouth OBRFC