Bright future for Wicklow
Rugby club of year award
AFTER one of the best weeks in Wicklow RFC’s proud history, club president Bert Nicholson tipped them for an even brighter future.
Having been crowned Leinster Rugby Junior Club of the year, they followed it up by hosting the Towns Cup final on Sunday live on Eir Sport.
It was a landmark day for the club and it allowed the entire nation to see just how wonderful the club has become in recent times.
Nicholson is quick to praise everybody involved with the club as he is sure that it wouldn’t have been possible without them.
“It’s in recognition of the marvellous club that we have up there. It really is a community club. It’s very family focused and family friendly club.
“There’s been huge growth with kinders (aged 3-6), minis boys and girls, youths, two senior men’s teams, one senior women’s team and three girl’s teams (U-14, U-16 & U-18) - they all got to Premier League finals this year.
“One of the newest initiatives that we’ve done is the Wickow Warriors team which is an all-inclusive team. They train on a Thursday night and that’s really, really wonderful. The participants in that are from 48 years of age to six years of age. It’s absolutely brilliant to see - it’s a club for everybody.”
Already boasting fantastic facilities, Wicklow RFC are already making plans to better themselves.
“We’ve three full pitches, we’ve a new training area, we’ve lights on two pitches and we’ve seven referees. But it wouldn’t be at all possible without the support of our main sponsors who are Bank of Ireland and our sponsors and supporters. We’ve full planning permission in for a new gym and changing rooms to and that’s the next project.”
And if anyone needed proof to see how good this club really was, they only needed to call up on Sunday - or even turn on their television!
“If anyone saw the Towns Cup, it was testament to the buy-in from our members and the community to the community spirit. We had over 100 people volunteering yesterday and the club has never looked as well. It was a spectacular backdrop on Eir Sport. It was a huge honour for us to be chosen to host the competition and I think we did it absolute justice.
“The compliments from the president of the IRFU - Philip Orr - and the compliments from the president of the Leinster as well - Niall Rynne - they were second to none. To quote them, they said that we’ve “raised the bar for other clubs”.”
It is far from a solo effort. Many hands make light work at Wicklow RFC and the door is always open for fresh faces.
“The people involved are fantastic. It is a real family club. You have a smile on your face going up and a smile on your face coming back. It’s marvellous to be involved and there’s great people there.
“We’re always looking for volunteers! We’re always looking for more help. You could see on Sunday, we put the call out for help and over 100 people volunteered their time on a Sunday to pull of that show. It was incredible.”