I hope everyone is well.
Summer is here and a busy couple of months have passed since our last update. As well as the usual summer events such as Wimbledon and the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, 2024 is also an Olympic Year (good luck to everyone representing Team GB and congratulations to those who have already won medals in Paris), plus rugby summer tours to Japan, New Zealand, South Africa and North and South America and European Championship football, you'd be forgiven for barely having time to catch a breath and take a break!
July has been a busy month for the club with the Pub Sevens, return of the senior and junior squads to pre season, pre season fixture announcements, minis recruitment and new committee, sponsorship and facilities work.
Pub Sevens
The club had a Great Day out at the National Pub 7s held at Harpenden RFC for the 58th year, with Mick O'Shea and William Batchelor putting out two teams of Blue and Gold players - one Vets and one u23s.
Veterans 10s.
Base Camp at the Vets Village was established with a gazebo provided by former Captain Scott Mineikis and the Blue and Gold players, supporters, friends and family came in their droves.
The Rugby saw the Vets play Vees, Harpenden II, OAs, and Harpenden I and everyone got stuck in. Loads of old friends got to play against each other and the Hertfordshire Referee Society were excellent in their interpretation of the law for the Older Player! Harpenden I accrued the most points and were the worthy winners.
Thank you to Duncan Jack for the excellent photos of the whole day.
We can confirm that the first Vets fixture of the 2024/25 season will be against Vees Vets on Saturday 12th October at 2 pm before the Seniors play each other that afternoon.
Under 23s.
St Albans put a team in the national pub 7s for the first time in a number of years and found out how the 7s circuit has taken off.
They started off with a game against a team of students from Warwick University. It was a well-matched game that St Albans edged 14-12, Tries by AJ Andrews and Fin who were both guesting from Oakham.
In the second game, they played former winners Oxfam and gave their opponents a good game until Oxfam stepped their game up and scored four second-half tries to none, score 28-0.
In their last pool game, they came up against another well-drilled side in the Seven Dwarfs Orange, St Albans started the stronger and surprised their opponents with a quick line out taken by captain for the day Will Batchelor who got the ball to AJ again who danced in under posts, unfortunately the opposition then stepped their game up and scored 35 unanswered points.
In the knockout stages saints faced a well drilled side in the Random Ruckers and found themselves on the wrong end of a beating, 64-0.
Special thanks to Syd Noad, Ash Willing and Ryan Fields who returned to the Blue and Gold and to Bedford Tigers player Luke Wilson who guested as well, thanks to all who took part in a great day of 7s!
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Dave Wall
It is with great sadness this month that we report the passing of Dave Wall on Friday 19th July 2024.
Dave originally played for the old Electrical Apparatus Company (EAC) and then subsequently for St Albans RFC for a significant number of years. He played wing forward and was an active member of the club.
He captained the 1st XV on four separate seasons (1973/74, 1975/76, 1976/77 and 1984/85), and was co-chairman in 2000/01.
After his playing days, Dave was a regular committee member and supported the club attending fixtures and pre-match lunches.
The club wishes to extend its sympathies to Dave’s family and friends.
Dave's daughter Scarlett has asked that you contact her (07972 934294) if you would like to share any stories about Dave.
Dave’s funeral will be held on Saturday 17th August at 2:00pm at Oak Hill Lawn Cemetery, South Way, Hatfield, AL10 8HS.
This will be followed by the wake at the rugby club - St Albans RFC, Oaklands Lane, St Albans, AL4 0HR
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Pre-Season / Fixtures
The Senior squad has been back in training since the start of July and it's great to see so many returning and new faces. Under the guidance of our coaching team of George Elliott (Director of Rugby), Jack Stevenson (Head Coach), and Harry Trude (Assistant Coach), the players have been put through their paces with the temperature of the sessions rising in the last couple of weeks - literally!
The first block of pre-season has been focused on skills and conditioning with the club goal to be the fittest teams in the division. The work rate and application of the squad to date have been exceptional, with many players completing additional club gym sessions as well as the two rugby pitch sessions a week.
Next month we will be announcing new additions to the squad as well as returning players. Keep your eyes peeled for social media updates as well. We can confirm this month that we will have two pre-season fixtures against Canvey Island and St Neots at home on Saturday 24th and 31st of August respectively. Both games will provide a tough test for the players as we build toward the season opener against UCS at home on 7th September and we look forward to returning to competitive rugby. The squad will take a mid pre-season break next week before returning on Tuesday 13th August as we build up to the Canvey fixture.
We can confirm that there have been further delays to the release of the 2nd XV fixtures for 2024/25 caused by a combination of club movements, divisional restructuring and admin issues. We hope to have these announced within the next couple of weeks with a few home double-headers to look forward to in the coming months.
If any players are interested in joining the club please contact us on recruitment@stalbansrugby.com
Minis and Juniors
St Albans Junior Nomads have been back in training since early July every Tuesday on the second pitch adjacent to the senior squad training. It's been fantastic to see strong numbers with preparations underway for a new season. The boys step up to u14 level and the standard of opposition will be stronger this year, however, the club is confident with the squad that we have that the team will be competitive. The Nomads setup and success is a great source of pride for our club and together with Welwyn we hope to see players step up to Colts and senior rugby in the next five years.
Recruitment for our Minis and Juniors sections is under way and we are inviting new players to come along on Sunday 15th September for our "Bring a Friend" free taster training session - 10am start.
If you are interested in joining either our under 14s or minis age groups (under 5 to under 12s) please contact - minis@stalbansrugby.com
We are recruiting players aged 4-14 to be part of our expanding age grade section.
The club offers mini rugby to boys and girls through our under 5s to under 12s ages and Junior boys rugby at u14 level.
Whether you are an existing player or looking to try a new sport come down to our friendly and welcoming community club.
At St Albans Rugby Club we provide a fantastic environment that fosters enjoyment for all ages and nurtures talent to provide a clear pathway from minis all the way through to our senior set-up.
We can't wait to welcome to next generation to join our already flourishing mini and junior set-up.
Finally from our mini and junior section we are delighted to confirm the new committee for 2024/25:
Fixture Secretary: Mark Arbeid
Media Manager: Louise Canfield
Membership Secretary: Gail Smith
Head Coach: Claire Penfold
Club Liaison Officer: Vicky Toolan
Safeguarding Officer: Dominic Lewenz
Deputy Safeguarding Officer: James Bertram
First Aid - Kerry Fricker
A warm welcome to all of the above as we enter a new era for age grade rugby at the club and we look forward to the season ahead.
Sponsorship
Commercially the summer is always a busy period for the club with renewals and new sponsors joining the club. Next month we will be revealing our new playing kit for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 seasons. We are delighted to confirm our shirt sponsors for the next two seasons:
- RSK
- Exi-Go
- Elliotts
- Taylor Walton
- Magenta Storage
- Blackbridge
- KC Flooring
- Howden
- Verulam Golf Club (also Community Partner for our u14s Nomads)
Thank you to Alan Ryder (RSK), Michael Robinson (Exi-Go), George Elliott (Elliotts and Blackbridge), Daljit Dale (Taylor Walton), RJ Victorino (Magenta Storage), Steve Kingsley and Ryan Chiverton (KC Flooring) and Eric Juster (Howden - St Albans branch).
We announced previously our new three-year kit partnership with Akuma and we would also like to extend a thank you to Will Mottram who has been working closely with George Elliott to design our new home and alternative shirts plus warm up kit, leisure wear, and club shops which we hope will go live later this month. The designs to date looks amazing and we look forward to revealing our new look in due course.
A new exciting agreement with Howden, one of our sponsors for this season, have kindly agreed to donate £50 to the club for every new policy that proceeds when mentioning St Albans RFC, so for any insurance needs whether it's car, home, van, bike, landlord, plus many more, pop in to see them at 66 London Road or call 01727 854525 and remember to mention St Albans RFC.
As well as our kit sponsors, we would also like to extend a big thank you to all of our club sponsors who have renewed their commitment to the Blue and Gold for the next one, two and three years:
- MandM Glass Specialists
- KG Electrical Contractors
- George Davies Turf
- RPG Crouch Chapman LLP
- Audus Kitchens
- AS Homes and Construction
- Lister Interiors Ltd
- JJ Burgess
- Ember Designs
- Gymtro
- Stonebond
- Power Supplies Ltd
- Alban Consulting
- St Albans Van Hire
- MK Law
- Hallsdale Commercial Insurance Brokers
- PPH Coaches
- Mather Estates
- Moveology
New Sponsor:
Switch4Profit
We still have several existing sponsors for whom renewal discussions are ongoing together with new enquiries and we hope to make further announcements in our August edition.
Thank you to everyone who supports our club. Sponsorship is vital to enable us to offer rugby for all ages from Vets to Seniors to Junior to Minis. If you know anyone that may be interested in supporting us please contact our Commercial Manager Fraser Morris - marketing@stalbansrugby.com for more information.
Facilities
Finishing with facilities this month our team of volunteers have been putting in time to carry out maintenance work to the clubhouse. Additionally, they have installed the new pitch side and clubhouse boards, the latter a new feature of our kit sponsorship packages. There has been considerable work to the pitches in the off-season and during the players return and we are very proud to have transformed the playing surface to one of the best at our level. Thank you to the ground staff and volunteers for their hard work.
We wish everyone a great summer break.
