At the moment, understandably, we are being governed by the directives of the Government, RFU and Middlesex Rugby, as well as the vagaries of what Kings House School will allow us to do at the ground. In essence we are at a standstill along with every other club in actually coming together.
We wanted to take the opportunity to provide you with some insight as to what is happening in the background
Insight from Graham, our Treasurer: Back in November, when it became clearer that the Season was under threat, I projected that the Club would go bust in May this year without the injection of additional funds. Thankfully, a combination of the much appreciated additional contributions from a few of you, Pete Kasic’s fund raising ventures and reduced expenditure due to COVID restrictions, we look likely to survive the Season. Nevertheless, the Club coffers have been depleted and we will start the 21/22 Season in need of additional funds. I have been in touch throughout with Middlesex, but there’s no doubt we will need more than they can offer and so will re-open the hunt for new sponsors, please let us know of any, as well as raising funds from Club events. I can’t wait for club rugby to re-start when the time is right, and am hoping the 21/22 Season starts in September.
If, you would like to support the Club then please go to our web page and click shop, you have a number of options available to contribute in a very user friendly way.
Insight from Chris, our Director of Rugby: Time has been spent actively contacting the players individually, gathering feedback, answering questions, gauging engagement..... we can report that players are all chomping at the bit to return and pick up from where we left off. Our recruitment drive has continued, we have managed to get verbal agreements from several players to join the club ahead of the new season/end of lockdown. Aside from this, we have let the players be and let them focus on themselves during these troubling times, however letting them know we are here if they need to chat.
Insight from Grant, Head Coach: There has of course been many interactions across this time as we look to maintain relationships with everyone involved. Our playing group is very new and ensuring the wellbeing of all is paramount any time but even more now.
With that in mind our main focus for players and staff has been to allow everyone some space and time to not focus on rugby too much. After months of training and barely any competitive opportunity it would have been unfair to put extra strain on the players. Their focus should be on their safety, health and happiness and that of their families.
During this time I have been continuing to develop myself personally as a coach to ensure that when we come back to rugby I am fully energised and ready to produce sessions which will recruit and retain players.
Part of this has been to make sure I am well aware of the progressions between my employer, England Rugby and DCMS, so that I can stay ahead in my planning for how rugby may look between now and next season.
I have also spoken to a number of excellent coaches who would love to come and add value in guest sessions, to bolster our offer. Trying to find ways to add value without cost is something I have thought about a lot and have some further plans on how this might look.
As we move closer to training together again, we must accept that there will be varied levels of interest from players. If we are allowed to have some competitive rugby, even if it is non contact, we must seize this opportunity.
Then as a secondary component, we must build towards a contact season from September which right now seems more realistic. If we do that, then I am sure the majority of current players will remain enthused about playing for CS Stags and others will also want to join our movement.
As you can see everyone is pulling together and preparing to get back towards when we can start training again. The Club in this historical year has not been able to show its capabilities on the field, but has shown its resilience in surviving thanks to a small group of financial supporters, thank you !
We now await the Lockdown exit plan with keen interest and have started to map out what our plans would be in the potential scenarios. We will let you all know once we have something firm to communicate.
Keep safe !
Alan Bernard
Chairman