Slough RFC - Bucks Club of the Year 2017

Slough RFC is awarded the Peter Trunkfield Cup

After a great season that saw the club progress in all areas, Slough RFC has been awarded the Peter Trunkfield Cup. The Cup is awarded by the Bucks RFU President at the end of his presidential year to the Club that he feels has the best playing ethos & behaviour, both on and off the pitch.

2016/17 Bucks RFU President, Gwyn Stone, visited every Bucks club at least once on a match day last season and had some great experiences, admitting that the Cup could have been awarded to more than one club this year, but was ultimately awarded to Slough.

A spokesperson for the club said it was a great achievement for the club who have worked hard to move forward after a rough couple of years. ‘It’s just fantastic. The award is for the whole club from club official to player to supporter, all of whom have played their part in making Slough Rugby Club the best rugby club not just in Slough but in its rugby county of Buckinghamshire too.’

Photo: 1st XV Captain Max Miles, Current President Ken Watkins, 2XV Captain Martin Tilby and Past President Mike Wild all getting their hands on the Cup.

For those that don't know of Peter Trunkfield.....
In 1974 he was elected President of Buckinghamshire County RFU, a post he filled for 3 years.
At one stage in 1976, Peter held three rugby posts in the County - he was Hon. Sec. at Marlow, and also President and Hon. Sec. of Bucks.
In 1982 he was elected as the Bucks County Representative on the RFU Committee.
In 1996, he was invited to become a Vice-President, then Senior Vice-President in 1997, and ultimately President of the Rugby Football Union for season 1998-99.

Peter was a real "club man" and liked nothing more than visiting the local clubs.
The Cup was initiated by Bucks RFU the at the end of the first season after his death in December 2010.

Slough 7s 2017

Slough Rugby Club welcomed over 30 teams and in excess of 350 rugby players to its grounds in Upton Court Park for the 13th annual Slough 7s Peter Crockford Memorial Tournament on Saturday. Following last year’s format the event saw a three tier competition with teams entering an Elite, Social or Youth competition.

The Fijian Knights won the hotly contested Elite competition fending off The Ponty Butchers in a tough final.

High Wycombe Green Dragons won the 16 team social competition with wins over ESL Honey Badgers, BCA Old Boys and Budgy Smugglers before a comprehensive win over The Beavers in the final.

Chobham RFC won the Youth Tournament after meeting Milton Keynes, Rosslyn Park and Maidenhead Stags in their pool. Slough RFC's own U16s team, Slough Spartans, took the Shield.

Rugby 7s fans started arriving on Friday night in preparation for the Club’s biggest 7s event to date and as well as rugby this year, spectators were able to enjoy a selection of stalls, bouncy castles and rugby taster sessions throughout the day whilst band Chasing Deer provided evening entertainment.

Tournament Organiser, Craig Fullicks, hailed the day as a great success and thanked everyone involved, “What a fantastic event! Great rugby throughout and well deserved winners. A big thank you has to go out to all the volunteers, sponsors and partners who helped both before and during the day, without them, it would not have been successful.”.

Mark Casey, Chairman at Slough RFC, said 'We had a fabulous day. It started off epically with the Lions game. We were blessed with the weather; there were loads of kids, loads of parents- it's a really big family'

Results:

Elite:
Cup- Fijian Knights
Runners Up – Ponty Butchers
Bowl- Odd Socks

Social:
Cup- High Wycombe Green Dragons
Plate- Witney Miniguns
Bowl- Reeds Wanderers
Shield- McDermotts

Youth:
Cup- Chobham
Plate- Maidenhead Stags
Bowl- Rosslyn Park Whites
Shield- Slough Spartans

click to view photos

NatWest Rugbyforce 2017

NatWest Rugbyforce 2017 was supported by over 40 volunteers from various sections of the club who turned up for the annual workday on Saturday.

A number of jobs including painting, sorting, weeding, fixing and cleaning kept everyone busy with a huge amount of work done before volunteers downed tools for the day and enjoyed a well deserved BBQ that was provided by the club.

NatWest RugbyForce is a nationwide programme developed in partnership with the RFU to help make clubs stronger by improving and renovating their facilities with the support of club members and the local community.

A big thank you to all those who supported the event at Slough RFC this year.

Senior Awards

Senior player awards were presented at the annual Players' Supper on Saturday 20th May.

Tom Young won the Player of the Year trophy whilst Joe Sole picked up the Young Player award. Sole also picked up the Wayne Kerr award for the 2nd year running. Kev Dunne won the 2nd XV Player of the Year trophy as well as the Top Try scorer and Top Points scorer awards after a season that saw him score an impressive 16 tries and successfully boot over 60 conversions and penalties in 15 games. The Most Improved Player trophy went to Billy Young. 1st XV captain Max Miles was presented with the Captain of the Year trophy, the Captains Cup going to Sam Rowe and the Coaches Cup to Rhys Amos. Full list of awards-

Player of the Year – Tom Young
Captains Cup – Sam Rowe
Coaches Cup – Rhys Amos
Most Improved Player – Billy Young
Young Player of the Year – Joe Sole
1st XV Player’s Player of the Year – Tom Young
2nd XV Player’s Player of the Year – Kev Dunne
Top Try Scorer – Kev Dunne
Top Points Scorer – Kev Dunne
Wayne Kerr Award – Joe Sole
Buddha Winner- Matt Fenwick
Captain of the Year – Max Miles
Team of the Year – 1st XV

M&J Awards 2016/17

Slough Rugby Club’s Minis and Juniors gathered to celebrate the achievements of its members at the annual awards ceremony on Sunday 7th May.

Presenting the awards were Youth Chairman Andrew Leighton- Pope and Club President Ken Watkins. Club Treasurer Shelley Pigott and County Rep Ray Gagnon were also in attendance to help the club’s youth close the 2016/17 season.

All players from U6s through to U16s received a memento trophy. There were also three larger awards made in each age group - Most Improved Player, Coach’s Player and Player of the Season.

The Minis Player of the Year plaque was awarded to U10s Randy Karize whilst U16s Kieran Lanigan picked up the Junior Club Player of the Year award.

Volunteers’ efforts received recognition at the ceremony with U11s coach Carl Rumney collecting an award for coaching and Louisa Caldwell, Helen Deegan, Catherine Vanstone, Ann Vater and Karen Spires receiving flowers for keeping the club's youngsters fed and watered throughout the season. Louisa Caldwell also collected the Colin Williams Cup for organising a number of social events including a recent day out to Littlehampton whilst Shelley Pigott picked up the Neville Cup for her work behind the scenes and Paula Tadzik was awarded The Vase.

Club President Ken Watkins said that it was an honour and a privilege to be invited to be a part of the Slough RFC Mini and Junior annual awards ceremony.

"I was delighted to see our club packed full of young rugby enthusiasts along with their parents to recognise all of the season’s achievements.

Our future generations can learn so much from being a part of a rugby environment with the world rugby values integrity, passion, solidarity, discipline and respect being taught from such a young age.

The Mini and Junior section of Slough RFC is growing year on year, and its success is a credit to the people who work hard at making it the fantastic family friendly club that it is. There are too many people to thank individually, however, I would like to give special thanks to Andrew Leighton-Pope, who has been doing a fantastic job as Chairman of Slough RFC Mini and Juniors for more years than he cares to remember.

The future of Slough Rugby Club is in good hands. I look forward to seeing all of the achievements of next season and beyond."

click to view full list of award winners

Slough RFC M&J Day trip to Littlehampton

Slough RFC youth section (+ parents) enjoyed a club outing to Littlehampton where fish n chips and touch rugby on the beach were the order of the day. Many thanks to Louisa for organising.

Slough RFC Minis Festival 2017

Teams from as far as Jersey descended on Slough RFC for the annual Minis Rugby Festival on Sunday.

Slough U7s made a promising start with an immediate try for Kalen Singh Dhillon in their first game. Tries for Hayden Karize, Sky Randall, Vinnie Rawcliffe and Ali Minhas soon followed as the team recorded wins against Drifters and Abbots & Phoenix, a loss against Staines and a draw with Old Albanian Tigers.

Slough U8s kicked off the day with a 3-2 loss to Chesham before going on to win over Staines- tries for Albert Georgescu, Tyler Rawcliffe and Ryan Goddard giving the young Greenies a solid 6-4 win. A loss to a well drilled and extremely pacey Farnborough Pirates team followed. The U8s then finished their day with a strong win over Abbots & Phoenix- Bradley Chakaodza and debutant Eesah Asif adding to the scoresheet in a 6-4 victory.

A depleted Slough U9s formed a baa baa team with Bracknell for their games. Silky running rewarded Aaron Singh Dhillon with a try in a draw against Abbots & Phoenix in the first match. The baa baas lost their remaining games however showed improvement in their play as the day progressed.

U11s Player of the Day Jake Evans scored in every game with Stuart Goddard, Isaac Sullivan, Jamie Finn, Mason Simpson, Cody Rumney and Jake Rawcliffe also adding to the scoresheet in wins over Bracknell, Chesham, Old Albanians and Farnborough, the team also recorded a narrow loss to strong Jersey team.

Slough U12s joined forces with Jersey to win two games and lose two.

Using the RFU TREDS guidance which celebrates Rugby’s Core Values of Teamwork, Respect, Enjoyment, Discipline and Sportsmanship each team went home with a trophy and each player received a participation certificate.

Slough Rugby Club Minis and Juniors Chairman, Andrew Leighton-Pope, said the event was all about the family of Rugby and ensuring a good rugby experience for young players. The day was a big success with 10 different clubs fielding 49 teams and approximately 600 children aged 6 to 12 years old enjoying their rugby thanks to the efforts and hard work of rugby coaches, volunteers and parents.

Click to view full reports:

U7/8s Minis Festival 2017

U9s Minis Festival 2017

U11s Minis Festival 2017

U9s Guard of Honour at Wasps

Slough RFC U9s had an exciting day on Saturday when they were invited to take part in a Bucks RFU Minis takeover day at Wasps.

Bucks RFU invited various age groups from their affiliated clubs to do a number of fun jobs on the day such as ball runner and shirt shakes. Slough U9s were allocated Guard of Honour duties, welcoming Wasps and opponents Toulouse onto the pitch at KO.

A spokesperson for the club said ‘Slough RFC U9s did the Guard of Honour at the start of the Wasps v Toulouse Champions Cup round 5 game and had a great day out.The club was glad to be able to lay on transport so that the youngsters could take part in what was for many their first taste of professional rugby. Thank you to Bucks RFU for providing such an exciting opportunity.’

Bucks Bowl Winners 2016

Slough beat Drifters in a match that was nail biting to the very end with a draw at full time and a penalty kick off to determine the winner- the first in the history of the competition!

click to view match report

U11s Demonstrate Rugby Core Values to Win Festival

Farnborough’s Mini Rugby Festival was about more than rugby skill. Teams from around the country were marked on how well they embodied Rugby’s Core Values of Teamwork, Respect, Enjoyment, Discipline and Sportsmanship; the values that lie at the very heart of Rugby Union in England.

Slough U11s had a great day at the tournament. As well as running in 15 tries against teams from Vectis, Haywards Heath, Worthing, Sutton & Epsom and Farnborough, the young Greenies had an impressive tally of 46 out of a possible 50 Core Value points by the end of the tournament- making them the winners of their category.

Youth Chairman at Slough RFC, Andrew Leighton-Pope, said ‘Rugby’s Core Values underpins everything we do at Slough Rugby Club and it’s fantastic to see one of our teams being recognised for this. A wonderful achievement and reward for the hard work that our U11s and their coach, Carl Rumney, put in.’

Slough RFC MacMillan Coffee Morning

Slough Rugby Club took part in world's biggest coffee morning on Friday 30th September to raise money and show support for the wonderful team at Macmillan cancer support. Organised by Louisa Caldwell, whose son plays for the Club’s U11s team, this was the first time the rugby club had hosted a MacMillan Coffee Morning.

The event was a great success with a combination of cakes, coffee and raffle raising a total of £340 on the day and a further £265 raised by a second raffle and donation pots over the weekend.

Total raised by Slough RFC = £605

A huge thank you to Louisa for organising and running the event and to Chris and Karen Winter and Paul Thompson for all their help and support.

click for a few photos of our coffee morning

Slough Minis in Film Shoot!

Slough RFC Minis section was joined by a film crew and RFU staff on Sunday.

Filming a promotional video for ‘Old Mutual Wealth Kids First’ the RFU were keen to film our coaches modelling exceptional practise, see the scheme’s sticker books in action and talk to players about the differences they’d noticed since the club signed the Old Mutual Wealth Kids First pledge.

Old Mutual Wealth Kids First is a new development that supports rugby for players aged 7-13 years. Aimed at helping children to develop and learn the game at their own pace, clubs across the country have been asked to sign a pledge that puts children at the heart of everything they do, encourages fun on the pitch, builds confidence and champions Rugby's core values creating a safe, healthy and enjoyable environment for children.

Slough RFC is delighted to have been chosen to take part in the video which will be used to promote Old Mutual Wealth Kids First in other clubs and schools. It’s a fine scheme that complements the hard work we have put into our youth section over the years and ensures that we will continue to deliver the best rugby experience we can for local children on a Sunday morning.

Slough RFC Volunteers Rewarded

As part of a Bucks RFU initiative to reward volunteers in clubs 7 volunteers from Slough attended the Wasps v Bristol game on Sunday 18th September.

Bucks RFU Hon Sec Mike Wild hosted Gareth Morgan, Ray Gagnon, Trevor Sheddon, Andrew Leighton-Pope, Carl Rumney, Dave Bishop and Derek Savill as a thank you for all they've done at the club over the years. The day included lunch in the Premier Club, match tickets and access to the player's lounge after the game.

Additional thanks to Derek Savill who drove the minibus and is now owed several pints from the other attendees!!