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Dear Parents and Players Welcome back to Valley Fort for the 2006 / 7 season all you seasoned warriors and a very warm welcome and hello to our new members. I thought I would provide a quick update on where we are with regards to a few developments in the Club. Firstly, it looks like we will be moving out of the temporary club house we occupied in the second part of last season and into the old building which should have now been refurbished. Training will start on Sep 10th and we will attempt to get everyone kitted out in the new rugby strip throughout that morning. We are currently in the process of talking to the Union about holding an open training session in September for local kids so that we can widen the base of the club and provide some sport education to those who may not otherwise get it. I will keep you informed of progress. It is also planned to hold a tour to Singapore in early December. We have targeted the weekend of the 2 /3 rd and it is likely to involve the U9-U12 age groups depending on demand. Once the season gets underway we will ask people to register their interest on line and provide costing details and timings. On the management side of the club we are sorry to see Phil Crotty step down as director of mini but delighted to see Nick Pasha take up the reigns and we wish him well. I know you will join me in doing all you can to support him in the directorship of the mini section and our thanks go to Phil for a great job last season. As some of you may well know Carl Redman took the plunge and filled the Vice-Chairman slot vacated by Jonathan Price on his relocation to Singapore. Carl has been helping me throughout the summer get some of things that need to be done finished and later on in the season will take over the reigns of the Club as Chairman. Carl is very enthusiastic, organized and full of good ideas on how to take the club forward. I am very confident that he will take us all on to the next level and I think we are extremely lucky to have someone like Carl stepping into the slot. Our thanks and best wishes to Carl. The success of our club is based on the commitment and selflessness of its volunteer staff and all they do behind the scenes. Dr. David and Marie Owens, David and sally Peters, David Hurren and Kim Murphy are but a few who deserve special mention. However, it is important that we sustain the numbers willing to help in order to spread the load among a wider base of members and keep the great spirit we have chugging on. Please think on this and offer your help if you find yourself in a position to do so. We are currently keen to find someone who is happy to maintain the rugby equipment (mainly the scrum machine and BBQ). We are looking for a volunteer to take over the running of the Club house. The positions of Membership secretary and Club treasurer will be coming up in the 2007 / 8 season and we would be happy to have a couple of volunteers to understudy these jobs this season in order to get to know the ropes. Looking back on the last season there were a couple of takeaways pointed out to me by the ‘Doc’ and I thought it worth sharing. We had 13 players picked for the HK rep squads. Of those 13 players 8 of them started playing their rugby with Valley Fort back when they were 6 years old (or Stanley Fort as it was then). Of the 4 who were picked to play at U14, 2 of them were actually U13 so playing a year above their normal age group. Our U18 players this year will be the first crop of players who went through our junior program and we eagerly await the results and know that they will be providing a high standard pool of players for the Senior Valley RFC side next year. Before the start of the season please take a moment or two to read through the codes of conduct we post on the website. These codes form the basis of how we wish our club conducts itself at Player, Parent and Coach level and I think it serves as a reminder of the right mindset as we start our season before we all get carried away about how we are going to try and win everything. Perspective……I know I am guilty of needing a bit every now and then!! Best of luck to us all. Let’s get out there and make it an even better season than it was last year. A big ask, but a great target.
HG (Chairman)
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