Time for town to back club

It’s time for the town to get right behind Scarborough Rugby Club. This year has been a phenomenal year of success both on and off the field at Scarborough RUFC.

We have launched one of the most successful women’s sides in the county in our Valkyries, and on the back of this, we now have a newlyformed under-13s girls side.

We are currently extending our gym which will now offer strength and conditioning opportunities for our younger stars.

Our mini and junior section has grown by over 50 players, and this demand has been matched by an increase in volunteer coaches.

We’ve had a number of players selected and playing for Yorkshire, and to top it all off, our senior men’s first team, is now playing in a national cup semi-final against Bridgnorth this Saturday (with the winners playing at Twickenham).

Scarborough RUFC is excelling and the exciting news is this isn’t a peak.

The development has been organic, sustainable and will continue in the coming years.

This Saturday, when the first team take on Bridgnorth, all of our minis and juniors will be attending the fixture to parade the pitch at half-time.

The whole event will be a celebration of all of these achievements, while showcasing the highest standard of rugby we can offer the town.

This Saturday, it’s time for the town to get right behind Scarborough Rugby Club, by 3pm kick-off, I’m sure Silver Royd will be bouncing.

Last week, Graham School’s Year 10s were tasked with representing Scarborough when they took on Hornsea and Wolfreton in the East Yorkshire Schools Finals.

Graham qualified by winning the Scarborough Schools leagues, and they then had to play in a qualifying match against the winner of the Ryedale leagues.

Having come through all these tests victorious, optimism was high.

Unfortunately this was short-lived, as Graham suffered heavy defeats in the tournament finals, but fantastic performances from Cameron Hunter and Tom Wade were not to be overlooked, with Wade making one of the biggest tackles of the tournament.

Although the side faced difficult opposition and tough conditions, the attitude that the players demonstrated could not be faulted by their coach Craig Farrell, who said: “Seldom have I been prouder of a group of players for their effort and resilience. They were incredible, a credit to our school and our town”.

At times winning in sport isn’t the be all and end all, sometimes, to play the game in the right spirit can encompass all else. I’m very humbled that we have a side like this representing Scarborough in such an occasion.

Congratulations to all those involved and keep up the good work.

Our under-15s and under17s are both taking advantage of the Easter Holidays by going on tour.

I’m a big fan of touring at a younger age, it offers our youth the chance to experience a different country, different cultures and also to spend large amounts of quality time with each other which is great for team building.

They’re always a great way to finish off a season and remind the players of the main reason they play the sport – because they enjoy it.

Tours have always left positive memories in my mind and I’m sure this next few weeks will do the same for our teams.

While our minis are having a well-earned break on Sunday, our under13s and under-14s will be travelling to Pocklington to compete in a sevens tournament.

Finally, I’d like to finish by offering an open invitation to all girls in the Scarborough region aged 10 to 14 to come and play rugby at Scarborough RUFC on Monday evenings from 6pm7pm.

Rugby has always been a male-dominated sport and this shouldn’t be the case.

We have a number of girls playing consistently and each one has often spoken of their enjoyment of the game, especially now they realise it isn’t as scary as they first perceived it to be.

I’d implore all those with any interest at all to take that leap of faith and try it for yourself.

You never know, you may just love it! Thanks for reading, Tomasz