Jean honoured as rugby club return
ANY fears that the long gap without matches might knock Ashbourne Rugby Club’s membership have been allayed by strong turnouts for training now that outdoor sports are allowed again.
Around 50 senior players have attended each of the evening sessions held so far, despite the fact that no full senior matches will be played before next season.
Then, on Sunday morning, 164 young players took part in the club’s junior training session.
That was substantially up from the previous week’s impressive enough figure of 119.
The regional body, the Notts Lince & Derbys RFU, have offered to arrange a short summer league for senior clubs in June but Ashbourne have opted not to take part and will instead concentrate on having an extensive pre-season for the next official campaign from July.
“You do wonder whether the club’s heartbeat will still be there after something like this,” said first team coach Martin Farr.
“What we’ve seen is that it most certainly is.”
The juniors will carry on training through to the end of May before taking a break. There had been thoughts of carrying on straight through the summer but Farr said the club were mindful of other summer sports that many of the young players also like to get involved in.
Meanwhile, the club have paid tribute to the woman they called their “number one supporter,” Jean Brown, whose funeral was last week.
For some years in later life, Jean continued to attend matches with players pushing her mobility scooter across the field to the touchline.
In the 1980s she watched her sons David and Martin progress from the Colts to the senior team and, more recently, watched David’s son Tom play through the age groups.
Farr wrote on the club’s Facebook page: “For any bus trip, she was there! Front seat with a big smile and a word for all of us as we walked on.
“Her judgment of how the team had played was normally a single sentence and correct. She knew her stuff.
“She continued to be a regular on the rec as her walking became more difficult, the players pushing her mobility scooter across the mud to ensure a decent view.
“When David’s son Tom kept the family playing connection going, Jean was always on the touchline giving her support and legendary opinions.”
Club members lined Park Avenue last Thursday morning to salute the hearse on the way to a private burial.
David Brown wrote: “Thank you so much to everyone who turned out to say goodbye to mum. It means so much to all of us to see such love and admiration for mum, from so many people.
“It was very comforting for us on a difficult day and I know mum would have been really chuffed.”