Basingstoke RFC

It’s the first league game of the season tomorrow, the 1st XV are going to Staines, ko 3pm, the Dragons are away to Aldershot & Fleet 1s and the Cavs are home to Romsey IIs. All games kick off at 3pm. The 1st and Dragons teams are listed below, sorry, but I don’t have the Cavs team info this morning. The Academy are home training on Sunday afternoon.

On Sunday morning, it’s Youth Section registration day, U12s – U16s. The minis register the following Sunday.

Players

The summer is passing, pre season training has started and you can imagine my delight when, yesterday evening, I received a phone call inviting me to attend training.  Whilst I am aware that recruitment is always an issue for us, the requirement for a ‘well past it’ chairman to attend training does indicate a certain lack of strength and depth.
I then discovered that Mark Bushnell (Bushey) was phoning the wrong Steve. Mark has taken over as first team manager, assisting Chris Cooke and Junior Paramore and I was very pleased to hear of his involvement.

There are 2 changes to Basingstoke Rugby Club’s management this summer, first is the appointment of Roger Parsons, who has taken over Club House & Grounds following the retirement of Steve Appleby.  Second the appointment of Stuart Shepherd, as Commercial/General Manager. This is a huge boost to the club; Stuart is well known to the local community from his banking connections and is already driving the club forward in many areas.  The club is however giving very serious consideration to an application for full charity status; this has been achieved by Dorking RFC and offers us considerable advantages, particularly for any form of money raising exercise for our planned expansion.  The requirements of full charity status, along with keeping the club management dynamic, means that there may be quite considerable changes to the management structure.  We are looking at creating a very much smaller Board with important sub-committees reporting to the Board and more of this structure will be made apparent over the next few months.

The most important announcement is that the Council have, along with the Residents Association, this week given approval for us to continue our plans to significantly improve the club house.  It is well understood that the changing rooms require updating, that the building is 40 years old and we would like to get rid of the flat roof and improve the appearance of the club house. See Gazette Editors column.

An interesting additional development is that BCOT have indicated their interest in using our facilities as a sports academy and they would require other facilities which would be of great interest to the club.  A number of you have seen our dream plans and they were shown to the Kempshott Residents Committee on Wednesday, a sub-committee of the council on Wednesday evening and I am talking to the Residents Association in early September.

This is a very exciting development but will require considerable energy to raise sufficient funds.  Hopefully the education component of this development and full charity status will open pathways to new funding areas.

I would like to welcome Junior Paramore as our new first team coach; he will also be doing some school’s coaching.  Junior has a significant rugby pedigree, having played for Samoa in three world cups and played in the Guinness Premiership for Gloucester for some years.  He has been well received by both schools and the players and I look forward to the season under his direction.

Jerry May has taken over as our community rugby coach and he will be supported by Junior. I am delighted that Jerry has accepted the post as many of you will know that Jerry has been acting as a part time CRC for some months.  Our community rugby coach programme is very significant for the club, not only in recruiting players, also our standing in the community and in our pursuit of rugby excellence.

As the new season approaches, there is always the concern regarding sponsorships, particularly in our present financial climate, but I am delighted to hear that this is very much on target with very few of our past sponsors leaving and already a number of new sponsors arriving.

Basingstoke Rugby Club continues to grow in size and it is no longer possible to run our club on a volunteer basis. This does not however mean we can run without volunteers, and I would welcome hearing from anyone who is interested in helping and supporting our club. The presence of Stuart means any help will be even more efficiently coordinated.

An important area that requires urgent support is ladies rugby. We have some players, certainly some funding to support the team – so let’s hear from some Sirens?

John Evans painting party continue their great work. Over the past 4 weeks his DIY followers have again smartened up the Clubhouse and Stand – very well done.

Finally the Fundraisers will be meeting soon; anyone interested in joining this illustrious and energetic group would be welcome. Despite the Gazette stating we have £1,000,000, sadly it has to be raised – no faint hearts should apply!

Steve Tristram Chairman BRFC

2 x Team Managers are sought to manage the 3^rd and 4^th Vets Teams here at Basingstoke. Duties and responsibilities will include…

• Agree meet times for home and away matches
• Complete necessary League result card and phone through result for home fixtures
• Manage players and coaches on match days and ensure correct kit is taken
• Communicate selected teams and meet time to players and coaches
• Attend selection on Tuesday nights

Anyone who is interested contact Chris Cook via the office

2 x Team Managers are sought to manage the 3^rd and 4^th/Vets Teams here at Basingstoke. Duties and responsibilities will include…

• Agree meet times for home and away matches
• Complete necessary League result card and phone through result for home fixtures
• Manage players and coaches on match days and ensure correct kit is taken
• Communicate selected teams and meet time to players and coaches
• Attend selection on Tuesday nights

Anyone who is interested contact Chris Cook, via the office 01256 323308.

.

The Coaches and Players of Basingstoke RFC would like to invite you to a Family Day at Down Grange on 14^th August 2010. The day will consist of fun and games for children and families, (eg:  rounders, touch rugby, quick cricket, or whatever else can be thought of!). We would also like to extend an invitation to all existing and potential sponsors to join us for a drink and canapés prior to the Club’s trial game.

The timings would be as follows:

2pm
Ground and bar open for everyone to come along for a drink (or two) and games on Down Grange

3pm
Sponsors and potential sponsors, drinks and canapés in the President’s lounge

4pm
Game kicking off on main pitch

5pm
BBQ available for all to purchase burgers etc.

5.30pm
Opportunity for all to meet the players and coaching team.  Plus the chance to meet the player you sponsored last season, or potentially wish to sponsor this year.

EXCITING times lie ahead at Down Grange after Basingstoke Rugby Football Club appointed a former Samoan international as head club coach.

Junior Paramore, a veteran of three World Cups with the Pacific islanders, joins the club on a full-time basis. His main responsibility will be the first team but he will also be heavily involved in the club’s community rugby programme.

The 41-year-old made 27 international appearances for Samoa, playing at the 1991, 1995 and 1999 World Cups. He scored six tries, including one against Argentina at the 1999 World Cup.

Paramore first came to England to play Rugby League for Castleford, before switching codes and playing for Bedford and then Premiership side Gloucester.

As a coach, he guided Luton to the Midlands One title in 2006-07 and has spent the last three years at Bournemouth, guiding them to fifth in National Three South West last season.

Paramore said: “I am very pleased to join Basingstoke. It is a good opportunity for me because the club was looking for a full-time coach to work both in the club and the community.

“It’s my job to pass on the experience I gained playing international and Premiership rugby to the younger lads – and hopefully we can play some entertaining rugby along the way.”

’Stoke finished a very respectable sixth at the end of their first season in National Three London last season – and Paramore is looking for the players to pick up from where they left off.

“I just want to carry on what the boys achieved last season,” he said.

“I will discuss things with the coaches and players before we decide what our aims for the season should be – whether that be promotion or whatever.”

One of his first jobs will be to work out who can replace fly-half Paul Morris and full-back Andrew Fitchett, who have returned to New Zealand after two seasons at the club.

New faces may also be needed in the front row, as Neil Young is having a break after becoming a father, while Simon Lovegrove plans to retire.

Paramore said: “I know a few players have left but I am not going to come in and change everything straight away. I am keen to bring local lads through and that is something I have done in the past.

“I will have a look at the first few training sessions, see where we need to strengthen and go from there.”

Chris Cook, the club’s chairman of playing, said Paramore is an exciting addition. He added: “When we first met Junior, we realised we had an opportunity to really signal our intent. It’s a very positive appointment.”

Paramore replaces Jim Kelly, whose job as an accountant meant that taking a full-time role at the club was not really an option – and Cook was keen to pay tribute to the outgoing head coach.

“Jim had some real impact in our promotion season, when he was first involved, and built on that last year,” Cook said. “Our results and league position show it has been a successful year and we wish him well wherever he ends up.”

Paramore is not the only new addition to the club staff as Jerry May has been appointed as the new community rugby coach.

May had been filling in over the past few months and Cook believes that May and Paramore will work well together in implementing the club’s community programme in local schools and keeping an eye on the youth teams.

“We basically looked at the coaching requirements from the club’s perspective and feel that this strengthens the community programme and also allows us to widen the range of age groups coached within the club,” Cook said.

“The two of them should work well together. Jerry knows what the club is about and Junior coming in brings a really high level of coaching know-how.”

Club chairman Steve Tristram said: “It is something different for us to have a full-time coach who is not playing and I am pleased that he is going to be part of our programme in local schools. That is an important part of what the club does.