Club development 1 of 5

1. The future...


Club development is one of the key areas Plymstock Albion Oaks that could determine the future of Oaks rugby. In 2008 we announced a new 5 year project, that project was to transform Plymstock Albion Oaks into one of the top teams in the area.

We put a lot of emphasis on our youth set up, and we even started the first colts team in the clubs history. One of our main goals was to improve the facilities at Horsham, and turn it into one of the best set ups around. So far we are half way through our 5 year project and have accomplished a lot of our goals. We have developed our club house and have spent around 30 grand on it, but the problem we are facing is funding to complete our plans for the clubhouse. We have planning permission for the project to go ahead, however it is going to cost in the region of 300 grand or more to get what we want.

In terms of the playing side of things we have progressed a lot, bringing our colts from 2009 into our first team this season has been a huge bonus, we finished third in the league and won two championships, and our seconds won the merit table as well as making it into the ellis cup final. This was a massive achievement for the club, and starting a colts team in 2009 really did pay off. The youth teams continue to develop, and we have several strong teams who we would like to bring up into the colts and senior teams eventually. Our first team will be going into next season looking for promotion into the Devon/Cornwall league after a great season of rebuilding, and would like to add more silverware to the clubs trophy cabinet. The second team will also go into next season aiming for another merit table championship.

All in all the future looks bright for Oaks rugby, however we must remain patent and realistic about our goals and where we want to be. It is still an on going process, and we do not have the same funding luxuries some other clubs in Devon have.