Cutting The Roots
This week saw another article published by Gavin Mairs and The Telegraph, where the position of grass roots of Rugby was again in focus as former RFU President John Owen ‘feared for the future of the grass roots game’
Clearly this issue is not going away and we at FYB are glad that such an institutional publication as the Telegraph is continuing to give grass roots rugby support by keeping the conversation going.
Fill Your Boots are on the front line of grass roots & social rugby and whilst it is shaming to our sport that clubs rich in their local history & formerly prospering with plentiful numbers are now struggling and only able field 1 or 2 teams, this is a luxury many clubs can only dream of. I am a member of a one team club located in an area with many larger union clubs and we have always faced competition for players. If a club with traditionally 3 or 4 teams is feeling the strain to recruit & retain players & members and is down to 1 or 2 teams what is the knock on effect to one team clubs? These could be the first to disappear.
Grass roots Rugby clubs are the lifeblood of our sport and we hope that this situation is resolved sooner rather than later.
I created FYB in my spare time whilst Captain of my club, Racal Decca RFC, when we were struggling for players and for survival, so I am qualified to say that the threat is real.
Fill Your Boots mission is to support your local club by finding those extra players you need to make your games happen and promote your activities so you can make ends meet. We have 850+ Rugby clubs following us on Twitter as well as an active community of Rugby players, clubs and enthusiasts on our Facebook page, Instagram and our website.
We cannot fill the financial gap in grass roots rugby left by recent events, however, we will be relentless in our support of clubs, players and games on a weekly basis.
We #MakeGamesHappen.
Visit our website – www.fybrugby.com
by Sean Phelan, Founder of Fill Your Boots
