Parrott goes public with Maids’ ambitious target
Maidenhead RFC: Director of rugby hopes to guide club into National League 2
Maidenhead’s director of rugby Myke Parrott said this week he’s not afraid to publicly state the club’s ambitious goals and targets for the coming seasons.
Maids are set to play in the London and South East Premier Division for the first time from September, having been switched sideways out of the South West Premier Division following the curtailment of last season.
However, Parrott says the club hopes to do far more than simply tread water in their new surroundings and he’s tipping the first team to push on and gain promotion to National League 2 South.
And should they do that the club’s lofty ambitions don’t end there.
“We want to get up to National 2 and I’m not going to be afraid to publicly say that,” said Parrott. “That is the ambition of this club and that is the target.
“And we wouldn’t want to just go up to make up the numbers. We’d want to go up and then have a real dig in the league above.
“A club like Maidenhead, with the huge youth sections we’ve got, I feel that’s where we should be aiming if not higher. So, we’re cracking on, re-educating the players and trying to be more professional in lots of aspects.
“We’ve got an unbelievable coaching set up here, so we want to be hitting the ground running next season.
“We won’t be waiting until July, I want the lads to start thinking about their fitness now so they come back in really decent shape.
“It will be a tough old league but we’re sure that if we turn up we’re going to be there or there abouts.”
The first team players are currently being put through their paces over Zoom by the club’s strength and conditioning coach and that kind of attention to detail is being seen at all levels of the club. Parrott believes the chairman Steve Bough should give himself a ‘huge pat of the back’ for driving change and growth throughout the club during a very challenging time.
“When we get back to normality it will be a good time to reflect on what we’ve done,” he said. “I hope that people like Boughy, our chairman, is able to give himself a huge pat on the back.
“He’s been the figurehead and a lot of this is driven from his ambition, his keenness to keep the club moving forward. He’s enabled me and Mobbsy (David Mobbs-Smith) to be really forward thinking.
“Yes, we haven’t been able to play matches but the growth of this club over the past six months has been phenomenal in lots of ways.
“Through the engagement between youth and senior coaches, the flourishing women’s section. All the hard work that people like Boughy and the rest of the committee have put in, they should be very proud.
“I’m sure we’ve done the right thing and hopefully the work we’ve put in will put us in a strong position for next year. We’ve stayed busy the whole way through and hopefully the members can see that we’ve been trying our best to make the best of a very tough situation.
“When it comes to next season, I just hope they come back and support us as they always have done. I just can’t wait for that first game back. We’ll make it a real festival of a day.”