Future is bright for rugby in Rathdrum
Former Irish star is special guest at awards
IT WAS all smiles and celebrations in Rathdrum last weekend at the underage awards night which drew a very decent crowd and was attended by special guest, former Leinster and Ireland rugby international and Aughrim native, Shane Byrne.
The night itself was close to Byrne's heart with the rugby setups in Aughrim and Rathdrum combining forces in recent years.
One of the chief organisers on the night was Eifion Williams, originally from Wales but now fully immersed in the rugby club in Rathdrum.
He says Shane was a very popular figure on the night.
“Shane is such a nice fellow, a real gentleman and he posed for photos with all the kids and spoke to them all and at the end then they all jumped on him,” laughed Eifion.
Evian says the club is thriving at the moment at all levels and says the coaching numbers in the club are excellent and of a very high standard.
“We're doing pretty well, we've a lot of coaches doing excellent work and it's paying off, I would appeal for more players though, we can never have enough players,” said Eifion
The club is going to run training camps this summer and Eifion says they will be slightly different than just rugby camps.
“Well we realised that parents are under a lot of pressure with their kids playing so many sports, in the summer it can be one camp after the next, but ours will hopefully combine a lot of different sports, they won't be training camps for rugby as such, but more fun and inclusive,” said the underage mentor.
Anybody interested in getting in touch with Evian or the club in Rathdrum can contact him on 086 380 3561.
The senior club will hold their own awards night this Saturday in the clubhouse with dinner at 8pm and the awards afterwards.