Could you be our Team of the Month?

It has been a season like no other, with leagues in many countries cancelled because of the pandemic. Finally, there is cause for optimism as the prospect of playing matches with adapted laws hoves into view for many grass-roots clubs.

Through it all, the Rugby World Team of the Month award has continued unabated – and we’re now looking for our next winner.

We know there’s far more to a team than a set of match results. And this season we’ve been able to shed light on seven clubs for their efforts and achievements away from the field.

Our latest winner is Gravesend Gremlins, from Kent. To find out why they caught our eye, buy our May 2021 issue to read all about them.

Winning feeling: Fran Holmes, a back-row forward for Gravesend Gremlins (Joe Fathers/Fatography)

They followed Cartha Queen’s Park, our second Scottish winner of the season and worthy recipients in our April 2021 issue. We were gobsmacked by the fundraising zeal of the Glasgow club, with more than £10,000 worth of food being collected for a local church foodbank and another five-digit sum raised for the Movember charity.

Head coach Thomas Davidson later contacted us to highlight a new campaign that went viral and was used by clubs across the British Isles. The #DONATEAPINT campaign encouraged clubs to set up a donation page where members could donate the cost of a pint during the Six Nations, making up for some of the lost club income this season.

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Get on board: the imagery created by Cartha Queen’s Park for their hugely successful Six Nations campaign

Inclusivity is the watchword at Bec Old Boys, who featured in our March 2021 issue. “We have players with years of experience and others who have never touched a rugby ball,” says lock Mike Allen, who doubles as the South London club’s recruitment secretary.

“We’re set up to embrace every type of player, ensuring everybody gets something out of the two training sessions we provide each week. It’s what we pride ourselves on.”

At the last count, they had recruited 95 new players wishing to don their boots when, fingers crossed, matches resume later this month.

On the move: James Morgan in action for Bec Old Boys at the R4R Sixes at Rosslyn Park (Jonathan Knight)

Winding the clock back, our first winner this season was Scottish team Stewartry. They were top of West Regional One when the 2019-20 campaign was interrupted by Covid, yet voted to nullify the season in an SRU poll because their priority was the safety of their members.

Over last summer Stewartry set skills challenges, installed floodlighting, reviewed their mission statement and appointed a Covid Safety Officer in Clare Dooley.

Top Scots: Stewartry featured in our Nov 2020 issue

Best of all, they ran a #clearyourhead campaign, with mental health tips from players and coaches. Stewartry have lost two members to suicide in recent years and DoR John Muir said the club “realised we had a bigger role to play than just offering rugby opportunities”.

Mitcham & Carshalton were our next monthly winners. The Surrey club had won a MasterCard Community Award last season, along with promotion to the county’s fourth division, but were forced to reset their sights by the forced inactivity.

“Losing match-day revenue is a concern but lockdown has been a blessing in its own way,” chairman and flanker Keir Waller told us. “It reignited us. Some people on furlough found themselves with time to help build the player base, work our social media and develop our facilities. They were able to add that layer of paint to the changing rooms or help clear out the garden. It’s let us take stock of what we have and how to move forward.”

Spirit of rugby: Surrey club Mitcham & Carshalton are at the heart of their community (Chrissy Read)

Generating new sponsorship, relaunching a women’s side and completing work on a beer garden were three of their successful projects.

From there we crossed the river to Hendon, who secured a league and cup double just before the first lockdown. Rather than bemoaning their luck at being unable to test themselves in London Three North-West, they did the next best thing – by creating a cluster league for the non-contact game Ready 4 Rugby.

President David Gershlick was the driving force, assembling a six-team league featuring Hendon, Barnet, Mill Hill, Harrow, UCS Old Boys and Watford – two Herts clubs playing with four from Middlesex.

He told us: “Enfield asked to come in and I said, ‘Sorry, I’ve kept it to six clubs but why not form your own league around your own cluster area?’ Which they’ve done very successfully.

“Then our county got involved because Harrow chairman Andrew Smart is also chair of the Middlesex Competitions Committee. So the county through Andrew’s initiative have now picked up something like 30 other clubs. Wearing my Hendon hat, we became trailblazers.”

New game: R4R training at Hendon, whose president established a cluster league (Tom Brownsell)

Our next winner, who featured in our February 2021 issue, was Swanley Black Swans. Owen Connelly, a full-back at the Kent club, decided to launch a women’s team.

“The vast majority of the players had never played rugby, and some of them not even any sport. My worry was that it might become a bit disjointed and cliquey,” said Connelly.

“I couldn’t have been more wrong. They’ve bonded incredibly well. The moment any of them have any issues, any troubles, have to self-isolate, it’s ‘Anything I can do?, I’ll pick this up, drop this off’. They have a great team spirit.”

Whether it’s sharing posts, fundraising for the local ambulance station or making a one-year anniversary video, the players are throwing themselves into rugby life with gusto.

Recognition: Ellis Harris, Most Improved Player at Swanley Black Swans (Owen Connelly)

“I don’t know what other rugby teams are like but I think I’ve been lucky,” adds Connelly, a project manager. “They just buy into everything you ask them to buy into. And do it with 100% effort and a smile on their face.”

So could you be our Team of the Month? Charity work, a community project, a recruitment drive – there are any number of different reasons why you might have a story to tell that we would love to share with Rugby World readers. The award is open to any amateur club anywhere, and that includes school teams.

If you think your side deserves to be the next Rugby World Team of the Month, just email alan.pearey@futurenet.com with some brief details, including a couple of photos.

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