DISS RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB MACKENDERS SEPTEMBER 2015

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1 DISS RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB MACKENDERS VOLUME 3, ISSUE 10 SEPTEMBER 2015 HOW CLOSE WAS THAT? Good day to you all and welcome to the Mackenders. What a great last season the Club had, with every team at every level enjoying success both on and off the field. Inevitably, the spot light was on our First XV and with promotion our number one objective, it was very disappointing to just miss out in the play-off game back on 25th April. The game was so close. It was unbelievable, but in the end we were just pipped by the narrowest of margins. This means that we have another season in the London 2 North East league. Having said that, the competition will be just as fierce and determined as we are and there will be no easy games, that s almost guaranteed. On the plus side, we will be facing many local rivals including Ipswich, Norwich and Holt and as usual, they will all be gunning to capture the big scalp of Diss. The preparation has gone well and everybody is now focused on the new season which starts with the first league match, away to Ipswich, on 19th September. For just about the first time ever we have no home fixture in September and we have to wait until the 3rd October for the visit of South Woodham Ferrers before the action starts at Bellrope Lane. SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST: Situations Vacant Apologies all round A great week at the Tigers Summer Camp Adnams Sponsor our Pub 7 s Great work Denny Harrison Entrance Fees OVER THE SUMMER INSIDE THIS ISSUE: If you think nothing had really happened over the summer months you would be mistaken! In fact, there have been vast amounts of work going on and in some respects, it s just as tough as the winter months, just without the actual games themselves. The Executive Committee, led by Chairman Sid Easton has met every month and continues to run the Club for all of the membership. The Coaches have been busy planning and preparing for the new season, talking to the players etc. A new coaching structure is now in place to strengthen the whole Club right down to the youngest age groups, courses have been attended and improved qualifications gained. There is no real let up in the Club office where Sue English has been working very hard on many administration functions, accounts, organising both internal and external UPCOMING FIXTURES CLAY SHOOT IS A SUCCESS CONTRIBUTION FROM A CLUB STALWART PLANS FOR THE FUTURE SUNDAY S ARE NOW EVEN BETTER

2 PAGE 2 MACKENDERS events, sorting out membership renewal paperwork, putting the Annual Yearbook together. (A special mention here for Andy Hales in helping to produce this) and generally dealing with all other matters that arise on a day to day basis. We have also been busy fundraising and have held successful summer events which you all know about. David Thacker has been particularly busy on the sponsorship front and has secured very nearly all our fantastic sponsors from last season again for the next season. At the same time we continue to search for new supporters. The pitch side board renewals have gone very well also we now have circa 100 boards in place. The other remarkable result is connected with our First XV home game lunches where all 11 games have the backing of a main sponsor. We believe that this is the first time its been achieved, certainly this early in the year. George Porter (and his helpers) have done their usual superb job on the grounds over the summer with the grass looking better than ever. The maintenance of our grounds never stops and George takes great pride in how it looks, right down to the painting of the goalposts. George has also managed to clear a large section of the carpark to gain around a dozen more parking spaces. Talking about the carpark, more maintenance has been carried out on the car park and the bad potholes around the back of the Clubhouse have been dealt with. The acoustics in the Clubhouse continue to be a source of irritation to many Club members and a solution is still being sought. The issue here is that we have a fantastic facility but the noise level created is really too loud. At this point, tiling the ceiling seems to be the best option, but as always, it s going to be an expensive exercise to achieve this. Whilst we continue to work out the most effective way to get this work done if there is anybody out there that could help with a donation, a gift or even in the form of sponsorship it would be a massive help The Park Hotel has now taken on the Club catering responsibilities and has many new ideas of how they want to do things. These include offering a comprehensive range of snacks, food, tea and coffee throughout the day on match days and by popular demand will also be offering full English breakfasts between 08:00 and 10:00 on Sunday mornings. SITUATIONS VACANT CAN YOU HELP? We are still looking to fill a couple of positions within the Club ad we move into the new season. The first one is the position of First XV Manager. This is a very important job and essentially its to back up the First team, the coaches, physios, the team Captain etc. Paul Cockrane and Alistair Sheppard have full details. Please talk to them and come on board. The second position is for a Youth Fixture Secretary. Norman Potter who has been doing this job for longer than he cares to remember and would like a break. Full training will be given of course.

3 VOLUME 3, ISSUE 10 PAGE 3 UPCOMING FIXTURES The first XV kicked off the season at Ipswich and are away at Campion after that. DATE AWAY HOME LUNCH SPONSORS 19 th September IPSWICH 26 th September CAMPION 3 rd October SAFFRON WALDEN 10 th October SW FERRERS NEW WHEELS FOR THE CLUB COACH. THE OAKSMERE HOTEL 24 th October CANTABRIGIANS FOR FARMERS 7 th November SUDBURY 14 th November NORWICH T.W.GAZE With regard to the above list please note a couple of points; 1. Please book early to get your seat at the home games this season. With every game sponsored and places going rapidly, we will definitely have some sell out games. Diss V Norwich above is sold out already. Steve Smith is taking bookings as usual. Contact him on and by , pictonsl@sky.com 2. Watch out for the game on the 24th October, because of The World Cup this lunch will be held at 12.00noon with a kick off time of 1pm. This season sees Roger Coombs, Club Head Coach driving a new car, kindly sponsored by Club members and AW&D Hammond, Ford dealers in Halesworth. The picture below shows Roger taking control of the keys.

4 PAGE 4 MACKENDERS APOLOGIES In the last newsletter we had four pictures with Paul Balding receiving shirts from Under 11 sponsors. This was great, but we forgot to name the sponsors! Apologies in behalf of the Club and many, many thanks for your fantastic support. MIDWICH- Nathan Flatman organised on behalf of Midwich ATTWELLS SOLICITORS- Nick Atwell CLARET ENGINEERING Kevin Potter ESPRESSO VAPORE Jayne Harris DUTY OFFICERS RESPONSIBILITIES AND STABLE BOY The start of the season is a good time to remind all those volunteers about what their jobs entail with regard to Duty Officer and Stable Boy duties. The responsibilities of these very important jobs are well documented; however, it s easy on the day to miss something. It s vital we have these roles properly covered. Please contact Senior Duty Officer, Peter Rodger who will confirm what the duties are and rodgerfamily@hotmail.co.uk. PLENTY OF SYMPATHY AROUND! What a superb photograph! Here we have this poor guy rolling around in complete agony with his face showing how much pain he is in, his shin has just suffered some serious damage and above him, in a slightly unsympathetic tea pot stance, is the match referee. What s the ref thinking? Answers on a postcard please. Unimpressed is one word that comes to mind.

5 VOLUME 3, ISSUE 10 PAGE 5 CLAY PIGEON SHOOT Sunday 28th June saw the second annual Clay Shoot event held. This event would not be possible without the efforts of Ashley Hines and Trevor Ford who once again, brought a great day together to raise funds for the Club. The day started at 10:30 when a steady number of shooters started turning up. There were 5 stands and 8 clays at each stand with a certain degree of difficulty included. Although the day was mainly cloudy, it was a good temperature for the event and despite the fact that we had about 45 minutes of showers, this did not put anybody off. Refreshments were provided and served by Club members and the traps were run by the players. The day went very well and the shooting was keenly contested. 39 out of 40 was the winning round and there was a 4 way shoot off between those who had scored 38 for 2nd place. This proved to be a good fundraiser with circa 3000 cleared for the Club. Once again, many thanks to Ashley, Trevor and all those that helped. As well as this, many thanks to our kind sponsors without whom, we could not have had such a successful day. Richard Wright etc.

6 PAGE 6 MACKENDERS DISS/TIGERS SUMMER CAMP Diss RFC played host to Leicester Tigers and their popular summer training camp this August, as over 70 young rugby players learnt new skills from their elite youth coaching team, including Troy Thacker, ex-leicester Tigers player. With youth teams represented from Under 9 s to Under 14 all taking part, the course was not only aimed at developing existing players, but also introducing the sport to first-timers. One player who was enjoying the sport for the first time was Victoria Spouncer, who not only had a successful introduction to the sport, but was recognised within the Under 12 s age group as Player of the Week, for her commitment on the field and attitude to learning throughout the week. This week has been an incredibly successful rugby camp not only for the young Diss players, but for young people across Norfolk and Suffolk, who not only play for other teams, but maybe wanted to try the sport for the first time commented Andy Jermy, Mini s Rugby Chairman from Diss RFC. This week we had players from not only Diss attending, but also Southwold, Bury St Edmunds, Norwich, Beccles, and Stowmarket. All the players thoroughly enjoyed coming together as one team and learning the core skills of rugby. The intensive 5 day training course, which focused on the key elements of rugby, including passing, tackling and teamwork, concluded in a series of matches, where parents were invited to watch and see the progress the players had made. Afterwards Troy Thacker and his fellow coaches gave out awards to players of the week and to celebrate those players who represented the core values of rugby, both on and off the training field. Throughout the course, it was great to see older players looking out for younger or more inexperienced players, assisting coaches and representing the very best in terms of teamwork and good sportsmanship commented Troy Thacker on the final day. It s my first time to visit Diss RFC, but I have been really impressed not only by the facilities, but the players, coaches and great attitude everyone has involved with the club. I can t wait to come back again and see how the players have developed further.

7 VOLUME 3, ISSUE 10 PAGE 7 ANDY JERMY CONCLUDED Players on the course also took the opportunity to raise over 700 for the Matt Hampson Foundation ( matthampsonfoundation.org/), which supports injured sportsmen and their families. From developing new skills, making new friendships and supporting great work like the Matt Hampson foundation, it s been a fantastic week for Diss RFC and our players concluded Andy Jermy. With the new season starting for our mini s on September 6th, and England hosting the Rugby World Cup, I hope lots more young boys and girls take the opportunity to try rugby for the first time at Diss RFC. We have a fantastic coaching set-up at Diss, backed up by first class facilities and one of the largest youth sections in East Anglia. If your child is interested in starting rugby for the first time, or looking for develop this skills further then please visit clubs/dissrugby for further information.

8 VOLUME 3, ISSUE 10 PAGE 8 HOW DEDICATED ARE WE TO FITNESS? In yesteryear, we trained once a week, either on the pitch, or in the winter, at the school gym, where half the time was spent playing basketball. However, we were mostly farmers, which was a physical profession, so we were reasonably fit anyway. On matchdays we reckoned to turn up at least 15minutes before kick-off. (The second team captain would turn up 10 minutes after k/o, or if he was on time, would disappear just after half time, to milk the cows.) Saturday morning diet was never discussed. Now diet is a science (never heard pasta called a science), and arrival is before the VPs sit down for lunch. Training, and practise of tactics, is now twice a week, and the players are expected to do their own fitness training the other 5 nights a week? Well, 4 or 3? Certainly, players look fitter now than we used to, but still, when the score is near level at half time, one can say that the fitter team will win. So fitness IS important. So go to Training! Teamwork is also very important in today's rugby, where tactics in attack and defence make a big difference to the final score. So one needs ALL players to attend training regularly, because with injuries and loss of form, any player is likely to be called to play for a higher team, and needs to be able to fit in, as well as cope with the higher pace of the game each level shows. So teamwork IS important. So go to Training! Now, I am an Old Fart, an' don't know nothin', but I do like to stand on the touchline and like to see Diss win, because it is MY club, and I hope all players look upon Diss RFC in the same way. Anonymously contributed by Tony Alston. ADNAMS SPONSORED PUB 7 S On Sunday August 16th Diss reintroduced the pub 7s which had been a very popular event in the past. The turn out was a bit disappointing but nevertheless a good time was had by all. 5 sides played a round robin tournament and provided some excellent entertainment for the large crowd. The opening match was between Oaksmere, captained by ex Diss player Chris Beaird, now a leading light at Lowestoft and Yarmouth and the other pre-match favourites T800, with another former player Chris Aldous in their ranks. This match ended in a 17 all draw with both sides finishing the day in equal second place. Former 1st team scrum half Paul Richardson captained a team from Fakenham Bistro, where they may well have indulged before departing. Like all the teams on show the Bistro Boys acquitted themselves well and featured in some very close finishes. They included in their ranks current Diss 1st XV Captain Fraser Hall a most accomplished 7s player. Adam Goymour skippered a team from the George and Dragon which also include Saracens Captain Ben Walker who demonstrated his ability to adapt to different positions with consummate ease. The tournament was made up with the eventual winners The Sudbury Gainsborough, too young and fit commented Howard Goodman who had declined invitations from several teams to play for them. A great disappointment to the spectators who were hungry for the sight of him bursting through the centre. It was a delight for all to see Andy Thorpe pulling on his boots, what a shame he is not still playing remarked Chris Wyatt with one of his normal whispered comments. Among other notable appearances was Sebastian Goodge, showing he had not lost his blistering pace. The whole tournament was sponsored by Adnams Brewery and the Trophy was presented by past President George Porter to the Gainsborough Captain Shawn Smith. Alistair Shepherd and Paul Cochrane aided in their mathematical calculations by Charli Appleton kept the tournament flowing smoothly throughout. Norfolk provided 4 referees who all joined in with the spirit of the occasion.

9 VOLUME 3, ISSUE 10 PAGE 9 PLANS FOR THE SEASON COMING I said earlier that the Executive had been meeting monthly, as usual, throughout the summer. High on the agenda has been the subject of capital expenditure. So what s on the list? Refurbishment of the old gym Purchase the equipment we need for the gym. Car part re-instatement Signing of the new players Clubhouse acoustics Car park barriers Electric scoreboard External PA system Computerised tills New training floodlamps This list, whilst not exhaustive, are items that have been considered for investment. Some have been carried out, some have been authorised and others are still being debated. Is there anything else that you would like to put forward for consideration? If so, just let Sue English know on the usual Club contact numbers. CAR PARKS Both front and rear car parks have been ripped up and re-laid and the potholes in track behind the Clubhouse have been filled and sealed with hot tar and shingle. Thanks to Duncan West and the contractors for their efforts here. SCRUM MACHINES This seems a small point, but with health and safety in mind it s very important. The scrum machines have been inspected, serviced and certified by Ram Rugby. 150 CLUB Please note that the 150 Club carvery dinner will take place on 9th October John Stokes will be in charge as usual and a great evening is anticipated.

10 VOLUME 3, ISSUE 10 PAGE 10 RELAXED AT THE END OF LAST SEASON. After a long hard season, Denny Harrison and his band of hard working helpers reached the last big home game. It was supposed to be the Norfolk Cup Final but instead it turned into Diss RFC v. The Presidents XV. As usual Denny and his staff did a fantastic job and many thanks have to go out to acknowledge their efforts over the last year and for many past years. Is this the best run bar run in the Eastern Counties? If there is a better one, it would be worth a visit! Pictured above: Pauline, Vicky, Jade and Robyn

11 VOLUME 3, ISSUE 10 PAGE 11 SUNDAY IS A GREAT DAY As you will be aware Sunday mornings is a great time at the Club when all our youngsters come over for games, coaching etc. The really great news this season is that the Park Hotel has reintroduced a full English breakfast onto the menu. This will be served between 8.00am and 10.00am. all freshly prepared food expertly cooked. Last Sunday there was a queue! COME GO KARTING WITH US Patrick McDaniel is running a Go Karting day again this year. All are welcome on the day which is Friday 23rd October. Patrick can be contacted on REUNION DAY As usual, we always designate one game of the season to the reunion day. This is when we invite many previous players and old friends of the Club to come along. This year the day will be 3rd October at our first lunch of the season. Please tell all your friends. AUSTRALIA V FIJI A Club member has 2 tickets available for this World Cup match in Cardiff on 23rd September 5.00pm. Bed and breakfast accommodation has already been booked. Please apply to the Club office for full details. Tel: or dissrugbyclub@yahoo.co.uk GETTING WELL AHEAD Please make a note in your diary that the annual Club bowls Tournament date has already been fixed for next year. Run by Ann Ford and Will Foote, this will take place on Sunday 10 th July ENTRANCE FEES This season, entry fees for home First XV fixtures will be 5.00 per person which will include a programme. Club members will only be asked for 3.00.

12 VOLUME 3, ISSUE 10 PAGE 12 DO YOU NEED ANYBODY TO WORK FOR YOU? As usual, this year, we will be joined by some overseas visitors to the Club. Obviously, these guys need to pay their way, so if you need another pair of hands for the season, let us know. OCTOBER COACHING During October, around a dozen Club members will be attending coaching courses to raise the Club s standards. Thanks to Alistair Shepard for his work here. ADVANCE WARNING NEEDED This is a call to anyone organising any match/event on or near any of the pitches, KEEP GEORGE PORTER IN TOUCH! George just needs to know what s planned in advance so he can help make any event go smoothly. ANOTHER BIG JOB COMPLETED ON THE GROUNDS Thanks again to George Porter who has restored the rear car park back to its original size by the removal of a huge heap of soil, estimated at 300 tons to give us many more parking spaces. George had an estimate of 6,000 to dispose of this which was out of the question. Instead of going down that route, George offered it FOC to the new owner of Roydon Hall, Mr Mike Bass, provided that he paid for the contractor to remove it. He was extremely pleased and further more would like to become associated with Diss RFC and we hope he will support us at the lunches. PARKING ISSUES We all know that its tricky but the Club has been contacted again about the inconsiderate parking in the housing estates near the Club on a Sunday morning. Could everybody please take notice that it has to stop otherwise we will find ourselves in trouble with Norfolk Police, who apparently have been informed. We certainly do not want to lose any goodwill with our near neighbours. By kind permission of Ben Gaze at Grove Farm, just a stones throw away, we have plenty of overflow parking, please use it.

13 VOLUME 3, ISSUE 10 PAGE 13 ADNAMS WINE TASTING EVENING AT THE GROUND Alex Richards is arranging another wine tasting evening with Adnams on Friday 20th November. This event starts at 7.00pm and tickets are 15 each. Please contact Alex on or Come along and try a selection of fine wines from Adnams with the opportunity to buy your wine for Christmas. Cheese and biscuits will be available. MACMILLAN COFFEE MORNING

14 VOLUME 3, ISSUE 10 PAGE 14 IT S BEEN AN IMPORTANT TIME FOR OUR PITCHES George Porter tells me that, as usual he has had a very busy summer preparing the grounds/pitches for the coming season. The pitches have been fertilized, verti-drained, over seeded with creeping rye grass and sprayed for weed control. They were irrigated originally then we had good rainfall. After 10 years of work the pitches are the best they have ever been. I will be working on them as the season starts George continues, Each of the above has helped, but I am convinced the density of the sward and the strength of its base is due mainly to the new seed that I have used now for two consecutive years plus the vital fact, that this year, I was able to commence the important work of restoration at the very beginning of May. Finally, The goal posts on pitch number 1 have been repainted thanks to help from Simon Cooper and we have a new set of post protectors, courtesy of Striptees UK plus a new set of pitch side flag poles.