060 SPORT


in Japan TRUGBY


indexmagazine.co.uk


OUCHES DOWN


Rugby converges on Japan this month for the World Cup when 20 international teams line-up against each other in a six-week competition, with England’s opening game scheduled for 22nd September in the city of Sapporo. Here, we look at the game closer to home


David Leck © RTWRFC


T


unbridge Wells Rugby Football Club (TWRFC) has a history dating back to 1931 and, in a geographical anomaly, the pitch at its ground at St


Marks sits half in Kent and half in Sussex. That quirk aside, it has a track record in nurturing new talent and adapting to the demands of sport in a changing world of which TWRFC is most proud.


“Under our new chairman, Mike Rigby, and the executive board, we have a vision to be a volunteer-based community club – one that champions sport for players of all ages, gender, diversity and ability and that enables them to play to the best of their


ability on fi rst class facilities,” says Graham Withers, TWRFC’s press offi cer. “More than half of the current First XV


squad are home-grown, most having come through our hugely successful mini, junior and academy sections, with the rest of the senior squad made up of talented and ambitious British and overseas players who have been attracted by our success. “We run three senior Saturday teams catering for those wishing to play both serious and social rugby together with a thriving veterans squad. And we’ve been running girls-only rugby (Year 7 and above) since 2014 with considerable success. The U15’s reached the 2018 national semi-fi nals and the U18’s won every Kent competition,


cup and league in 2019,” adds Graham. “The junior section is the bedrock of the club with nearly 550 registered players. Our academy is the heartbeat of the club and the challenge it faces is the same as in many sports – keeping the next generation interested. To do this we are proud of our ‘one club’ ethos and, with this in mind, coaches have gone out into the school community at both at primary and secondary level.


“For 2019-20 we’re seeking to grow youth membership, strengthen and deepen the senior squads, invest further in the club’s assets and, in an increasingly professional era, grow our commercial partnerships.”


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