DoR Update
Hello Everyone, I sincerely hope that all our members, players and supporters are keeping well in these very strange times.
I ended my last piece, in the genuine hope that my next update would include a definitive league start date, with some progress reports from pre-season training, but alas, we are sadly some way off that yet, I am afraid.
However, despite the challenges we are currently facing, there are some wonderful things that we are doing as a club, and I want to begin, by telling you all about the quite fantastic bunch we have, in our now reinvigorated Ladies section…
Just 3 weeks ago, we did not have a Ladies team, but last night, we welcomed 21 members down to training, in a session led by Men’s Head Coach, Mobbsy, ahead of their maiden Touch Tournament tomorrow. They will compete against the Ladies teams from High Wycombe, Rams, Abbey, Windsor and Maidenhead Mohawks, and I very much hope they get the fantastic support and reception they deserve.
I am delighted to welcome Matt Snudden to the Coaching team at Maids, who will be responsible for the Ladies team moving forward. Matt has very relevant experience for this role, having taking up similar posts with Oxfordshire Ladies, Sherborne, Queen Mary Uni, and Royal Holloway Uni. Welcome to the Maidenhead family Matt, you’ve made a great choice!
We do not currently have in place at the club, a pathway for our young girls to play at Maidenhead, following U12s, which is something I want to change. Along with Directors of Youth and Minis respectively, Mike Andrew and Woji, and also new Director of Player Development, Duncan Jones, we are forging ahead with plans to establish Girls’ teams at the Under 13, 15 and 17s age groups, and cater for everyone at our great club.
I continue to be amazed at the enthusiasm, numbers and fun that our Junior section continue to produce every week, and what a quite lovely problem we have that such are the growing numbers in the Under 6s, that we need more Coaches! Look out for a couple of old boys on Sunday morning being run ragged by 20 5 year-olds, as myself and Mike Andrew attempt to help run a session 🙂
The Under 16s had another very successful Touch Tournament on the AGP on Sunday, where they welcomed Bracknell- it’s great to see the players being able to engage in some kind of inter-club competition, a big well done to all involved.
If you feel that you would like to assist with Coaching in our Youth section at Maidenhead, then please do get in contact, as we always need more volunteers.
From myself and the Committee, a massive thanks to all of our wonderful age group Coaches and Managers- you are producing Maidenhead Legends of the future, and we are so lucky to have you all.
On Tuesday night, myself, Mobbsy, Mike Andrew, Woji and Dave Pepper (Club Coaching Co-ordinator) had an extremely productive meeting, whereby we started the planning for a comprehensive framework for Coaching across the club. We are looking to implement this framework, and provide all of our Club Coaches this robust structure, which will outline standardised features, such as rugby terminology, technical and tactical development, extensive content, developmental milestones, coaching philosophies and club ethos. I look forward to reporting back on our progress with this, in due course.
In the Seniors, though the players had this week off to rest, we enjoyed a fantastic day of Touch rugby last weekend, where we welcomed Championship side, London Scottish, Jamaica Crocs and Amersham. It was a day of extremely high-quality rugby, which players and supporters thoroughly enjoyed.
I am very proud to announce, that Ben Mitchell will be taking over from myself as 1st XV Captain next season. We have some outstanding leaders in our squad, such as Mark Darlington, Andy Berry, Ed Keohane, Will Runciman, Will Macaulay and others, and I know they will give Ben the same awesome backing and support that they gave me, through my time as skipper. Congratulations Ben, and good luck!
As is always the way, we do sadly have to announce some departures from our Senior squad, detailed here:
-Andy Darlington- our much-loved International Tight-head has emigrated back to the Netherlands with fiance, Nell. Andy, quite simply, has been awesome for us these last 3 seasons, on and off the pitch, and we’ll miss him and Nell very much.
-Sam Hallett- after a frustrating injury, Sam is now semi-retired. Another big loss for the club, Sam always took the time to have a chat with everyone at the club, and the post-training bar, will sadly never be the same.
-Ross Muil- an outstanding young Maids boy, Ross has left, temporarily to finish University…gone, but not for long!
-Sam Rawsthorne- another who struggled with recent injuries, Sam is taking some time out to rest the body a bit. A player that we hope to see in the future!
-Joe Parkin- the RAF Scrum-half has opted to move to Chinnor in National 1, and test himself at a higher level.
We wish these lads all the very best, and hope to welcome them back to Maids some day, either as players or supporters. Thanks for everything you did for us boys, we really appreciate it!
However, we have made some brilliant additions to the squad, and continue to keep a very strong core of home-grown Maids boys in the side. Some of our latest recruits include:
James Macaulay- James has so often been the thorn in our side from Berkshire derbies over recent years. A very strong-scrummaging Tight Head prop, with a great work rate, we are chuffed that James has chosen to join us from local rivals, Newbury.
Liam Gilbert- another who has played against Maids in recent years, Liam Gilbert joins from Chinnor, after a spell as player/coach with hometown club, Salisbury. Liam is a former skipper at Chinnor, a superb lineout operator, who plays second row and number 8.
Will Cadden- former fans’ favourite is a returning Maids boy, who left the club 2 years ago to join Championship team, Richmond. Cadden is a hard-hitting, hard-running back row forward, who has also represented Norway. It’s brilliant to have him back home, albeit with far less hair.
Joe Keohane- England U18 starlet Keohane has committed to home-club, Maids for next season, after leaving London Irish in the summer. Joe joins brother, Ed in the squad, and plies his trade in the front row.
Nic Jones- another returnee, former Colts Captain, and 1st XV hooker, Nic Jones is back at the club after a couple of seasons out. He provides even more depth in the hooking department in the Senior squad for next year.
Josh Ashby-Moscardini- after moving to the area, we are delighted that Josh has opted to come to Maids- he will give further versatility to our back line, being able to cover 10, full back and centre. Josh has previously played in the Welsh Premiership for Bargoed, and has been part of the famous Welsh invitational team, Crawshays.
Will Lawrence- this young Maids magician made his debut for Maidenhead 1st XV at the tender age of 18, before moving to Leeds, for University. Equally adept at 9, 10 or 15, Will is even better than before, and we’re confident will be a vital cog in the Maids machine, for years to come.
Lewis Jones- yet another, who has decided to return home to Braywick. Fondly known as ‘Pumba’, he plays hooker and Tight Head, and comes with plenty of 1st team experience.
David Kilcoyne- A dead ringer for Jonny Bairstow, David joins from Hampshire side, Tottonians. He is a back 3 player, who is now also Head of Rugby at local secondary school, Desborough.
A huge welcome to all of our new and returning players, which seems to be increasing every week currently! We have a few more additions to the squad which I can hopefully share with you in my next update.
I very much hope to see lots of you down the club tomorrow, supporting the Ladies, and do remember, that if I can help in any way, please do not hesitate to contact me at mparrott@maidenheadrfc.co.uk
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