MILLWALL RFC MRFC Newsletter
Chair’s Message
“We all still get emails
Well it has been a fast and furious few weeks but I can honestly say that I am (at the moment) enjoying the challenges that being Chair Woman of Millwall Rugby club brings. I am being ably supported by a number of long-standing members whose advice has been invaluable and I would like to thank them publically for your support. You know who you are! There have been a number of developments within the club both big and small that we would like to update you about. The aim is for the newsletter to become a key tool in keeping everyone within the club informed and updated. I hope its revamp meets with your approval. We would welcome contributions from everyone and as you will read, wherever you are. Constructive criticism will be gratefully received and can be communicated through the usual email channels. Sarah
Reduce the summer flab and raise your fitness levels
from the club and keep up to date with what’s going on there.” “Talking to some of the guys here (Oz), who have gone on to play at
other clubs in other countries – they’ve all said they have never been able to find another club like Millwall” - Rick Jacobs Former Chairman
Pre-season training has begun. A big welcome back to Dave Paton as coach.
In This Issue ·Chair’s ·
Girls on tour
·
Bierfest
·
Millwall Exiles
·Millwall ·Open ·
Honing skills
update
Lions
Day
Dates for your diary
Pitch News! Not all of you may be aware but LBTH have decided that they will no longer support and provide a rugby pitch at Victoria Park and that Millwall Park will become the ONLY designated Rugby pitch within LBTH. (Great Olympic Legacy strategy from Tower Hamlets.) They site budget cuts, lack of investment from the RFU and commercial events as the reasons for this. Despite this they are a host borough for the 2015 rugby world cup!
The Millwall Exiles
Millwall RFC—an international affair
We are of course fighting this and we have Rick Bruin (RFU), Sport England, Local Councilors and Jim Fitzpatrick MP as our president, all fighting our corner. We will keep you updated.
7th July 2013 Despite being over 10,000 miles away, Millwall Rugby Club has played their part in the British & Irish Lions tour to Australia, with as many as 30 former club members reuniting down under. For many years, the Isle of Dogs club has attracted foreign players and now, thanks to the Millwall Exiles Facebook group, club members can keep in touch with their former teammates long after they return home to their native countries. This was never more evident than on the recent Lions tour with former and current players coming together for the test matches in Melbourne and the decider in Sydney. Club members now living in other parts of England, Ireland, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Australia descended upon the country’s largest cities for the tests, many having spent many years playing and volunteering at the East London rugby club.
Fond memories of Millwall “I think it just shows how special Millwall Rugby Club is” said former Chairman and Youth Chair, Matt Shorrock.
“Here we are on the other side of the world, signing the club song and catching up with people we haven’t seen in many years”.
Taking on club responsibility IS rewarding “Many of us here spent time on the club committee, which was sometimes as stressful as it was rewarding, so there’s still a deep sense of ownership and MRFC pride there.” While the result of the test series didn’t go the way that some members hoped, the camaraderie of the Millwall club members was on show at every opportunity.
Rick Jacobs (on left)
Another former Club Chairman, Rick Jacobs, who now lives in Perth, travelled to Sydney for the 3rd test to be part of the Millwall reunion, as much as for the rugby itself. “We all still get emails from the club and keep up to date with what’s going on there” said Jacobs, “Talking to some of the guys here, who have gone on to play at other clubs in other countries – they’ve all said they have never been able to find another club like Millwall” “It says a lot about the club, really”
Girls on tour! Millwall Venus had a very busy summer taking part in a number of sevens and touch touranaments.
Watchout for more details in next months newsletter.
Girls on tour
Millwall Lions—Scott Vinnicombe Firstly I'd like to thank the individuals who have come down to Sunday sessions to help coach the children: Chris Adams, Tim McDonagh, Stuart, Randall and Edna, Caroline Dieleman and Sean Russell The Sunday sessions have been going very well with an average attendance of 10 children which is a big improvement from the 1 or 2 children we had at the start of the year. The Rugby Fridays summer programme is also coming along nicely with 22 children turning up this week 50% of which had never played rugby before. We have had a few articles in the newspapers and hopefully will have another this coming week so keep an eye out for some Millwall lions shirts in the paper!
CAN YOU HELP WITH THE YOUTH? CONTACT SCOTT
The tournament begins...Hawaiian style!
Milwall Open Day Saturday 10th August 2013
What a fantastic day! Millwall members old and new worked hard, played hard and most certainly partied hard ( lights out at the club was 4am). The weather was perfect with at least 50 people who took part in the touch tournament. It was great to see many past members and the many young families enjoying the relaxed but buzzy atmosphere.
New members and players The event generated a lot of local interest many of whom made it down to the open day. But the effect is still on-going with many enquiries going through the Club Captain already translating to new faces at training and the clubhouse. In total we are looking at around 30+ people who have registered their interest. If you see a new face make sure you make them welcome and introduce them to other members so that they get ‘hooked’ and stay.
Fundraising for the club With the bar takings, Barbie, auction and raffle the club has raised a staggering £2600! A great start to the season and the Millwall bank balance. Special thanks need to be given to Tim for driving the event, Gareth and Ryan for the clubhouse organisation, Flex and Beechy for the organisation and smooth running of the tournament itself, Sophie and Andrew for the events superb marketing and online presence (amazing number of re-tweets and likes were recorded), Jou Jou for social events, Charlie for the Mission Sport partnership and finally DJ Stuey who kept us dancing till the wee hours.
Fundraising! A great open day effort! The total money raised for the raffle and auction was a staggering £1580! A huge success.
All prizes were kind donations from club partners/ sponsers and members and ranged from signed books to beer and steins brought back from the Bierfest last month. The raffle raised £320 with a top prize of Heiniken cup tickets.
Mission motorsport. Fundraising partner
The sought after ‘Flex’s emergency survival kit’ was won by our very own Sophie Morris. Im sure the tinned mackerel and scourer (to name but two of the items in this amazing prize) will come in very handy.
Have you got some spare time? Many of the ‘jobs’ that we need your help with will be on a rota system so your commitment does not even need to be each week. Could you help us with… · fixtures/booking pitches · Cooking for our teams when they are at home · Be a key person for touch rugby · Supporting the youth section · Organising the merchandise · Collecting ‘funny /interesting stories’ from players/ members past and present · Collate ‘ruck and maul’ programmes into a book · Planning how to celebrate our 20th anniversary (June 2015) and the 10th anniversary of the youth (Nov 2013)
The Auction The auction raised £1260 The auctioneer, Shaun Cook did a fine job in encouraging fierce competition between bidders. A consortium of Millwall players managed to keep the signed lion’s shirt within the club for £550. It will be framed and soon take pride of place on our clubhouse wall. With further big bids for the track day, thank you Larry McCabe £400 and Gareth Parkhill for the winning bid for the Acrobatic Flight Experience of £175.
Interested? Contact our volunteer coordinator, Paul Fisher or email secretary@millwall rugby.com
Members old and new enjoying the atmosphere and fair weather
Dates for your Diary
Contact Us Send us an email for more information about
Saturday 24th Aug- Bancroft 10's tournament (spectators welcome) Sun 25th Aug - 5Bells @ Millwall (party till dawn!) Saturday 31st Aug- Squad day @ Dagenham (all men's sides) - ALL welcome) Saturday 7th Sept- Men's sides @ Upper Clapton Sat 21st Sept - 1sts first game (away), 2nds home, 3rds away & TGIS
Millwallwall Rugby Club Manchester rd Isle of Dogs London,
info@millwallrugbycom Visit us on the web at www.millwallrugby.com
Saturday 14th Sept - 1st XV pre-season vs Upper Clapton @ Millwall , 2nds & 3rd first games (1 home, 1 away) Saturday 21st Sept - first competitive 1st XV fixture @ Brightlingsea Sat 28th Sept - 1sts away, 2nds away, 3rds home FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT THE CLUB CAPTAIN, SHAUN COOK OR RYAN /GARETH AT THE CLUBHOUSE
Oktoberfest on Millwall Park Although we would normally relish the opportunity of a beer festival on our doorstep unfortunately a tent being placed on our one and only rugby pitch (with capacity for 3,500 people), on a weekend we have four home games, is not conducive to the game of rugby!
Several members and the Chair, on the clubs behalf, have logged formal objections to the event. The club and CMC are actively addressing this worrying direction LBTH have taken in the commercialisation of the parks on which we rely. We will keep you updated on the progress we make in terms of securing our pitches for their primary purpose rugby!. Millwall RFC brings you grassroots rugby.
Bierfest Guten Tag, Millwall were well represented at the Kulmbach Bierfest for the 2nd year running, and this year they decided to sport the Bavarian 7s rugby team kit in 38 degrees. Gareth returned, for the 2nd year running, with injuries (but it was Gareth P rather than Gareth H this time) and everyone remembered their poolwear. Many beers were drunk, bratwurst was eaten and tables were fallen off/on to. Plans are already afoot for the return in 2014 - which will be at the end of July/ start of Aug again. Gareth Hargreaves
Interseted? Drop Gareth H an email
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