Dear Member,
Here we are a month into the new year and the Six Nations is about to start. GATS is back, this is going to be a really exciting time for Welsh rugby! There is lots going on at the club and all the Wales games will be on the big screen (2.15pm kick off).

You may not be aware that the Director for Rugby, Rich Weston has resigned. I thought I would take this opportunity to publically thank Rich for all his efforts over his time in office.

A lot of the work that Rich has done will have been unnoticed by the majority of the membership. Rich has been instrumental is setting up the Advanced Pathway for the U15,U16s and Youth team. The Advanced Pathway was originally about developing a fixed coaching structure to provide a club wide playing and skills strategy that is age appropriate.

Whilst some of this strategy remains under development the cross pollination of players through the age groups has been successful. We now have joint training sessions from U14s through to senior rugby. This has helped some players accelerate their learning and skills, while in a safe and controlled environment, for others it has helped them prepare for moving up through the age groups when they are ready. We still have some way to go with developing this structure, but so far, the progress made has been positive.

Rich has also been instrumental with creating the New Hub Officer post. The selection process is well underway and we hope to announce the successful candidate very soon. The Rugby Club has collaborated with the Welsh Rugby Union and Wrexham Council to provide the funding for the post over a 2 year contract. The Hub Officer’s role will be to actively promote rugby participation by interacting within the local primary and secondary schools. This will clearly have a huge focus on recruiting players for the Mini and Junior teams.

There are 17 active teams within the club that need managing and, as Director of Rugby, Rich has been there to listen to concerns and to help resolve issues, which has often been a thankless task. He was also responsible for ensuring teams have the correct coach and first aid balance across all teams. This has not been easy, but Rich’s calm and methodical approach has helped resolve many of the operational challenges an organisation the size of Wrexham Rugby Club has. Rich will be handing over to the New Director of Rugby in the coming days to Rob Jones who bring with him a wealth of experience from his Army and Rugby careers.

Rich will still be at the club and I’m sure we will enjoy having a beer or two with him in the future and that we all wish him well.

2025 is our 100th anniversary and something we naturally wish to celebrate. This won’t be a single event, but a series of events throughout the year that will engage the whole club the whole club to contribute their ideas and knowledge to help this be a raging success.

The club is currently looking to increase its volunteer base, not just on the pitches, but in the clubhouse. All our Mini and Junior sides are fed after games, we need bar staff, team managers and general helpers! If you think you can help, please get in touch.

2025 is also the year that our future location will be settled. Whether the club moves location or remains insitu, we will have significant expenditure with ensuring that our grounds can sustain the current and future planned use. The current pressures on the training and playing pitches is significant and the recent poor weather has helped highlight these issues. Our plans would be to install an all-weather pitch and floodlighting and improve our general facilities.

Naturally, all of these ambitions come with significant financial commitments and the club is currently setting the foundations to be able to fulfil them. We are also building positive relationships with Businesses, Community Groups and the Council to help us increase the Rugby Club’s profile within the City.

Please don’t hesitate to raise any questions you may have with your team reps or committee members.

Kind regards,

Nick Partington
WRUFC Club Chairman