Lineout - Latest News & Events

All the latest news and events from Eastbourne Rugby Club

Chairman's Welcome

Greetings one and all, or dare I say "Seasons greetings" one and all...

Welcome to another edition of "Line Out", Eastbourne rugby club’s newsletter. In this bumper edition you will find all sorts of information about what is going on at YOUR rugby club.

Please feel free to share this newsletter or the contents within, with your friends and family.

As always, we are constantly looking for more volunteers to assist with all sorts of different things throughout the club, so if you are able to spare a few hours a week/fortnight or month, then please don't be shy, step up and be part of what makes this great club.

See you all soon and enjoy!

All the best

Brooksie

We invite you to join the
ERFC business breakfast club!

It will be held at ERFC Club House (Park Avenue) at 8am on the last Friday of the month, the first one being 27th January. There is no joining fee all you need to pay is £10 for your superb full English breakfast which includes a cuppa!!

Click Here to e-mail Jane Brooks to book your place.

Wickes of Eastbourne to the Rescue

Thank-you to Wickes of Eastbourne for kindly providing us with materials to patch up vandalism.

Our Club’s Kit Store was overnight at the beginning of November vandalised to the extent that a large hole was knocked through from the rear of the store leaving the store both exposed and in a dangerous condition with potential collapse.

Immediately one of our Senior Coaches (Adrian Norwood) started to make plans to have the store repaired, requiring brickwork & structural repair.

Having been approached and listening to why we urgently needed repairs carried out the Manager of Wickes in Eastbourne kindly donated all materials for the job which has now been fully completed and the store returned to its safe storage facility for all our equipment.

Our Chairman Fraser Brooks has written to Wickes head office informing them of this kind gesture and we would just like to say a huge Thank-you to Wickes of Eastbourne for supporting their local Rugby Club.

ERFC Thanks New Volunteers

Our Club is primarily made up of Volunteers which aids the smooth running, organisation and indeed support & development to all our Players.

It is always with pleasure that we can announce a further two roles that have been appointed to the Club as a result of our Club Volunteer Co-ordinator Becky Quin cornering unsuspecting members of our Club or advertising on our Web-Site.

The following have been appointed

Andrew Sherry – Club Data Officer
An important Role ensuring our Game Management System used by the RFU and Clubs is up to date and represents a true account of our Clubs Status.
Andrew will report directly to the Director of Rugby whilst supporting and engaging with key stakeholders throughout the Club.

Trudie Godfrey – Youth Referee Co-Ordinator.
Again an important Role to ensure our Youth League games have a dedicated Referee and assigned to games throughout the season.
Reporting to the Director of Rugby and is key to aid & support our Youth Section.
Thanks must go to Ian Newman who undertook this role as an interim performing for our Senior Section 4 years ago and maintained the support for that period.

We still have one more Role to fill that is vacant, this is;

Rugby Development Officer – 6-7 hours per month.
A Key Role supporting our coaches to aid and support their development, organise Courses for our Coaches, publish training schedules and to create and distribute personalised training plans for every Coach throughout the Club. Reporting to the Director of Rugby but working closely with our Schools Liaisons Officer and joining the development team. This aids our ability to deliver the best possible Coaching to our Players.

Are you Interested, then please contact Steve Snell (DoR) directly for full details and Role description.

2017 Fundraising Dinner

A night not to be missed - book now!

Following a series of successful fundraising dinners, Bruce Hayter from Rix and Kay Solicitors, is delighted to announce that we have secured Nigel Owens as our speaker for next year’s dinner which is due to be held at The Grand Hotel, Eastbourne on Friday 14 July 2017. Nigel Owens is widely regarding as the best referee in the world and his details can be viewed Click Here

Bruce and his marketing manager, Lynette Rendle have organised a number of dinners over the years, raising much needed revenue for the Club. We have been very fortunate to have enjoyed the company of Willy John McBride, the sadly now departed Andy Ripley, Simon Shaw, Richard Hill and earlier this year, we were treated to a fantastic evening with All Blacks’ legend, Sean Fitzpatrick, including a rendition of the haka. The photos show illustrious members of ERFC with Sean and David Duckham, ex Coventry and England player who compered this year’s dinner.

If you would like to reserve a table or individual tickets for the 2017 dinner, please e-mail the Club Secretary, Hugh Graham. Prices are likely to be £60 each, to include a three course dinner and coffee. Further details will be available in due course, via the Club’s website.

I have been fortunate to have seen Nigel Owens speak earlier this year and I can honestly say that he is one of the most amusing and entertaining speakers on the circuit which is one reason why I have already reserved my tickets! Hope to see you there.

Paul Feist
ERFC Director

New coaches join the team at Eastbourne Rugby Club

As a Club, we continue to boost our volunteer Coaching team to ensure we can offer our Players the best development & playing opportunities.

We would like to introduce two new Coaches to our year on year growing Mini’s Section, lead by our Minis Chair Natalie Foley is the largest section within the Club ranging from Under 6’s to Under 12’s.

Matt Turner – Joining the Coaching team for our Under 11’s, a Level 2 Coach. A few details on Matt’s playing and Coaching history;
Past Playing History: Tonbridge School & Sevenoaks Rugby Football Club
Current Coaching: ERFC & Bedes School (Also Bodyworks Triathlon Club)
Qualifications: Level 1 & Level 2 RFU Coaching Qualifications
Children Playing: Luke Turner (U11's) - says "Rugby is truly his number one sport"!
Why Get Involved?: I love coaching, being able to adapt your coaching style for each individual and seeing that person grow not only in rugby skills but as a whole person is truly a fantastic feeling!

Ian McKee – Joining our Under 6’s age group, a few details on Ian’s playing history;

"I played at school in Leicestershire at a time when the school was producing some fantastic talent for both Leicester Tigers and England. I should point out that I cannot count myself amongst them and that my attitude was somewhat more casual (it doesn't stop me from name-dropping to win rugby related debates in the pub though). I then took a few years to enjoy being incredibly lazy and eating a lot before getting back into playing when I moved down to Eastbourne in 2007 where I have played on and off around injury, family and more laziness since".

"I got into coaching on a Sunday as my son, Patrick started playing. Having enjoyed a good half hour relaxing on the side-lines at his first session, I was duly recruited and must admit that I am enjoying it and look forward to seeing the crop of kid’s progress through each stage".

Two Players from Eastbourne Under 15’s Youth team selected to play for Sussex County Rugby.

We as a Club are always pleased to see players progress & develop not just throughout the Club and School level but also indeed playing and representing Sussex Rugby.

Zak Hebron & Reubin Hart have done exactly that and are now playing our great sport for School, Club and now County.

We spoke to both players who stated;

Zak - “after an enjoyable selection process I am pleased to have been selected for the U15 Sussex squad and look forward to representing my school and club at county level”

Reubin - “I was very proud to pull on a number 14 Sussex shirt and run out onto the pitch for our first match of the season against Middlesex”

Our Coaches Andrew Hebron and now Stefan Cousins (1st XV Player, now Coach) certainly demonstrates development, team effort and individual flare as our Under 15’s are a very strong side within our Youth section.

We wish them all the best and indeed they can be seen on a Sunday often on our 1st XV Pitch playing for our Eastbourne Under 15’s.

A reminder for all our Coaches to check out our Coaches Corner.

Updates, Newsletters, Sussex News, Courses available and a great way to stay in touch with the latest Coaching News.

Click Here to View the Lastest Newsletters