Not so very long ago, I believed that if you wanted to show the world you were a good coach then you had to be coaching at the top of the game, where people would see you. My thought process on that has started to change. Recently I have come across a team in the lower leagues of rugby that are challenging my views on rugby, and not negatively I might add. In fact quite the opposite, it is the first club that I have found that seem to epitomize everything I say a club should be and how a club should be run.
Streatham and Croydon RFC are currently languishing near the bottom of Surrey 2, for those that don’t know, that is Level 10 rugby in the UK. This little community club appear to have shaken of the shackles of cronyism and have set about building a proper club for their community. And this has been done in quite a large way by a number of key individuals.
Firstly they set about rebuilding their facilities and were able to raise £350,000 from the various different fund raising schemes available to them without having to put a single penny out of their own pocket. They used this money to build themselves a nice little stadium which houses some top draw changing room facilities. In fact so nice is what they have delivered that they are now hosting the Surrey mens team’s only home match of the season. Not bad for a club at their level.
But if this impressed you then what follows is going to blow your mind. They have almost completed the fundraising for the second step of their development which includes a new gym, offices and flats. And they are already part of the way through their third phase fund raising for the rebuilding and refurbishment of their clubhouse. These two phases of development are going to cost in the region of £1.2 million.
Further add into this their various schemes and applications for grants to raise funds for the community work they are doing, the opportunities they are creating, and this club could be a very serious player in three to four years time.
And herein lies the dilemma. I have always preferred the idea of growing something to that of taking over from somebody else and trying to make it work better. The opportunity to play a part in taking over the coaching role there is proving a very interesting proposition and one that is going to be difficult to turn down.
Something tells me that if they can get the coaching element working for them, they have the players that will be able to take them through the leagues, and like all things, success breads interest.
Even more interestingly is the work they do in the community, often using a referral partner for truant or last chance salon for young adults, they are starting to show signs of really helping get involved in their community.
I’ll let you know if I take the role……
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