Dear all
We want to provide an update to all club members of the senior section of a decision we have made for the benefit of the club, with the aim to improve player enjoyment this season and increase player numbers in the future.
Like many clubs up and down the country, we have struggled with availability over the last few years in the senior men’s teams which has impacted the club's performance on the pitch. So far this season we have only had enough players available for one fixture each weekend. Despite our best efforts, we have to accept that we are not able to fulfil two fixtures per weekend with current player availability. As such we have made the difficult decision to continue with one team for the rest of the season rather than two.
Additionally it has been apparent that the 1st XV are playing at a higher level than we should be. The 1st XV finished bottom of the league last season but relegation was not possible from the current ADM league. Due to the ADM league restructure we are in fact playing teams from a higher level this year. As such we do not consider it beneficial to keep playing 1st XV rugby at this level and also believe this to be part of the reason we have reduced availability of players this season as we have greater numbers available for our 2nd XV matches.
The decision has therefore been made that the 1st XV will drop out of the ADM leagues with immediate effect and we will maintain our position in the Halbro Leagues for the 2nd XV which will effectively become our Bedians XV for the remainder of the season. This has been discussed with the league secretaries who have been very understanding and supportive of this approach, which we are very thankful for. We believe this will benefit all of our players with fewer overall fixtures, more competitive rugby, more substitutions available, more local fixtures and one team we can all focus on for the remainder of the season to build team spirit, camaraderie, and overall enjoyment in the game.
We also need to look ahead to next season and use this as a platform to keep building a bigger and stronger player base to be able to support two teams in the future. We will keep running excellent training sessions every week with our coaches (Wednesdays 7.00-8.30pm), keep pushing recruitment of new players and planning enjoyable socials each month to bring us all together as a team. The aim will be to enter two teams into the Halbro leagues for next season and continue to run two teams as we have done for many years. If player numbers increase through this current season we can look to arrange Friday night matches under floodlights once per month to ensure there is rugby for everyone.
We understand this may be concerning for some. A lot of time and effort has gone into the decision from captains, coaches and committee, and we have discussed at length the various options. We believe this is the best approach to take to improve player enjoyment and overall player numbers so that the future of our great rugby club will stay strong for many years to come.
Thanks for everyone's support so far this year. Lets all pull together and make our wonderful
club stronger.
King regards,
Old Bedians RUFC - Senior Committee
oldbedians@gmail.com