Chairman’s Report

Having been promoted into D&N 1 this season I am pleased to say we finished strongly and achieved a position in the league that we would have been satisfied with at the end of last Season.
Congratulations to the whole team.
Coaches Danny, Rob & Chrissy have battled on, even when numbers at training were not always satisfactory.
I know that the players and coaches appreciate our band of loyal supporters, especially Paul I’Anson our intrepid Sports Reporter.
The Talbots and Hustlers have again done the club proud and made every effort to turn out sides when other clubs let us down on several occasions.
Thanks again to Liam, Steve, Brad, Kris & John for their unstinting devotion to the cause.
Mike Mcloughlin continues to do a magnificent job in running the Tees Valley Social League and I know all the clubs involved appreciate the hard work he has put in over the years.
Many thanks also to our Physio Nathan who I am pleased to report will be with us next season
Thanks also to our president, Steve Elsworth for all his support during the season.

It has been a difficult season for the ladies despite the efforts of Christine, Kimi, Ben and latterly Jim Ward.
It is hoped that an Inner Warrior campaign and hopefully stronger links with the University will result in the club turning out a team on a regular basis next season.
I also appreciate that we need to work hard if we are to increase the number of girls playing rugby.

The juniors & Mini/Midis also continue to flourish and, thanks to Len Taylor and all the coaches and referees, the number of youngsters coming through gives the club a continuous stream of players who will eventually represent the club at senior level.
All the youngsters are vital to the long-term future of the club but there is no doubt that the Academy under Mike Dickons has produced a batch of promising young players but next season we may have difficulty turning out a Colts side without combining with other clubs.
Len and his junior coaches continue to be a major factor in the club’s fortunes, particularly the midi/mini section under the watchful eye of Phil Hilton.
Thanks also to Alex faint who continues to referee the junior games.

I am pleased to report that, despite genuine concerns, the club’s policy on subscriptions (No Pay/No Play) has been a great success. However, it is still critical that we, as members and equal partners in the club, all pay our dues.

Our treasurer Ian Lang has worked hard this year and the club is very thankful for his efforts.

Now that we have had such great success with the development of the club-house I hope that the whole club can concentrate on actively encouraging our Rugby Development, recruitment and retention of players, referees, coaches and volunteers. Not forgetting Walking Rugby with Kerr Everett.

We must all continue to work hard for the club if we are to succeed in the future and progress with improvements on and off the field.

An area where we continue to improve is our appeal to sponsors.
Our new sponsorship brochure has already attracted a significant number of major sponsors namely, PAC Marine, HMH Civils, CL Transport, Johnson Containers, Northgate (Gary Sullivan) and Pond Planet (Tim Savage). This is in addition to our regular and vital regular sponsors
We thank all our sponsors as their support is a vital factor in the clubs continuing improvement and success.

It would be remiss of me not to thank all the members of the club committee without whose influence we would not have such a wonderful club.
The re-structure of the committee last year had some minor problems, but I am confident that the people who will be in place next season, in recognised positions, will ensure the club will go from strength to strength.
Christine, Kimi, Brad and Kerr joining the committee has given us a new dynamic and long may it continue.

A major factor again in our ever-improving club has been the work done by Mark Collins in all areas of the club.
He and Isla have managed brilliantly throughout whole of this season.

I would like to thank the bar staff of Claire, Paula, Georgia, Chris, Storm, Xander and all the lady volunteers, Emma & Aisha. Dave Walker for his quizzes and his work involved with club welfare and Ian McMullan for his organising of the international tickets.

Last, but not least, I hope we are all aware that the club runs a supporters’ club to enable the club to fund the repayment of the RFU loan we took out to complete our major refurbishment.
At present we have 91 vital members and are hoping we can reach the 100 mark.
Please consider joining and be eligible to win one of the 10 monthly draws of £100 & £50 and 2 major draws at Christmas and summer of £500/£400/£300/£200 & £100.
It’s £2/week and you just need to fill in a simple form available from Mark.
It would be great to genuinely say we have a 100 Club.

Thanks to everyone involved with our great club.

Ray Kelly
Chairman

Updated 20:00 - 29 Aug 2019 by Mark Collins