It has been a pleasure and privilege to be with the Roos this year. Our registrations have held firm and have grown in many age groups. Our on and off field conduct showed great character. We have had great relations with our fellow village clubs, the Marlins and the MJRU, and have tried several new things for the benefit of our players and parents and to retain and attract more young people to the great game of rugby. Nonetheless we have more to do and can learn much of it from our local clubs and community.
This report touches briefly on our volunteers, playing teams, associated clubs and new actions.
Volunteers.
Like all clubs we rely on the support of volunteer coaches, managers and administrators, and have about 80 helping the Roos. They have been tireless in their
respective roles and we thank them for their continuing efforts. In particular, the club would like to acknowledge Stew Davies who after 6 years as past president has continued to support the Roos and run our canteen in 2016. Blake Thompson, who has organised merchandise and presentation days, Eric Downs our peerless registrar and James Maxwell who has served as minis and age coordinator, are all stepping down after long years of appreciated service. The Evans family were our volunteers of the year for their incredible service, narrowly edging out Alan Main whose amazing efforts are also acknowledged.
Thanks also to Ciaran Gray our continuing treasurer and to all the age managers noted below. Nonetheless the administrative work required for running a club of this size has led us to hire a paid club administrator for the first time, a move which is releasing time to grow the club and its initiatives.
Minis.
In 2016 we had 14 teams across the 4 age groups, all of whom enjoyed their introduction to or continuing rugby with terrific age managers Bippy Power (also now our club coordinator), Kerri Corn, Chris-Cameron Doe and James McGrath working with minis VP Rob Gaunt. We have an extremely strong volunteer and player base coming through in these age groups. In Term 4 2015 we introduced Game On rugby to our 4 of our 5 village primary schools, and the impact has been instant. Registrations increased 25% in the relevant age group, and as importantly we have gained a great number of enthusiastic volunteer coaches and managers, including Kris Welsh our first female coach. The initiative is being repeated this year.
Juniors.
The Roos maintained 2 teams in the U10 to U12s, and merged with Seaforth in the U13s. Thanks again to the stirling efforts of the coaches, managers and age managers Marty Ferguson, James Maxwell, Barry van de Water and Darryl Sisson. However, the falling away of players once they reach secondary schools is continuing, clear in the U12s as well as the U13s, underlining the need for the Vikings for the teen years. All teams had excellent coaching and spirit but all struggled to varying degrees to stay competitive in both size and performance through the season, so the need to watch grading remains as real as ever.
However the Roos acknowledge that this is an almost impossible task for the SJRU. Having been to grading meetings over the past 5 years, there is a long and conscientious effort to get the right results for all teams, knowing that not everyone can win their comp.
Transparency in the decision making is equally important, and is a priority of the incoming SJRU President.
Vikings.
The Vikings are a joint venture between the Manly village clubs of Harbord Harlequins, Seaforth Raiders and Manly Roos. Set up for our local secondary school students and now in its 3rd year, the Vikings provides for stronger local teams, a stronger local rugby community, and a stronger pathway through to senior rugby. The quality of our coaching, culture and playing style is retaining players, attracting new players and recalling old players back to rugby in the Manly area. The Vikings name has history in our area (the Manly Vikings junior club pre-dates the Manly Roos), and invokes the spirit of ocean-side warriors who cross the water (or bridges) to plunder lesser rivals. The Roos universally support the Vikings concept. All those at the 2016 Vikings presentation day witnessed the positive energy that the Vikings are producing. It is true, however, that we need to be vigilant about creating and entrenching the Manly and Vikings culture and community in all age groups, supporting each team, reiterating the need for all players to get playing time on the basis of their commitment to team and training as well as their skills. The opportunity to work more closely with the Marlins and the full coaching talents of the district will continue to help in this regard.
Marlins.
The Roos share training at Keirle Park with the Marlins. Recently not enough has been made of this potential advantage, in part as the Marlins president had no interest. However now the coaches of both the Marlins and Roos are extremely keen to collaborate and share training resources, particularly for the juniors teams. This has happened intermittently over past years, but now needs to be entrenched.
Keirle Park.
The Roos would like to see Keirle Park entrenched as a rugby field with no risk of being taken over by other sports. Its good drainage is appreciated by all clubs, though it has to be well managed to handle the very heavy traffic from a 7-day senior team schedule. We have secured a $20K federal grant along with 10K from each of the Marlins, Council and Roos to renovate the training sheds and make them a shared facility for Marlins, Vikings and Roos teams. This interaction alone will build community and keep people in rugby.
Training days.
The most popular initiative among parents and players this year was our free ($10 covered lunch and handouts) rugby camp for all players in the July holidays. The Roos paid for professional NSWRU coaches and the Marlins contributed more. Being local and with your own team made it extremely popular. It was easy to do and we want to do more.
This may have an impact on the business model of other training day providers. However, a typical cost of $120-$180 per day is beyond the reach of most of our families, and our priority is to get more people playing more skilled and more enjoyable rugby.
Sponsors.
The Roos were fortunate to secure 3-year sponsorship agreements with St George Bank, Novotel Manly Pacific, Harvey Norman, Simpson Washing Machines and Guildea Real Estate, with Harris Farm also assisting. We hugely appreciate this financial support which has allowed us to invest in the game and our families without raising registration fees unduly.
The support has been invested in Keirle Park, additional coaching development, and the Club’s first set of quality training shirts, bearing the names of both players and sponsors.
Rugby in the Manly village area and district is in great shape compared to most other areas, and has the financial and people capacity and to be ever better. There is nothing at all to whinge about that we can’t fix ourselves. We do need the spread of people and good systems to manage the weekly club chores, to release the time for those interested to focus on increasing participation and improving the rugby experience. That’s what we are focussing on next year.
Thank you sponsors, thank you volunteers and officials, and thank you to the families who continue to play and cheer for the Roos!
Josh Dowse
President
Manly Roos Junior Rugby Union Club
