Welcome to the EKRFC September Monthly Newsletter on the day 55 years to the day the club was formed. It is delightful to start to see the hard work done pre-season and during the break begin to come to fruition through all areas of the club and the ongoing development of our various partnerships and outreach programmes.

Sad News

The club would like to pass its condolences to Euan Perry, former EK Player ‘Pep’ on the passing of his father Stewart. Our thoughts are with them and their family.

Floodlights

We will engage on the next phase of our funding search in the next 4/6 weeks with grant applications being considered and the tenders being finalised.

Dunedin Park

Next stages are also afoot for this with a new company being formed with the directors being finalised for this within the next 4 weeks.

Sponsors’ Lunch

The sponsors’ lunch, an opportunity to thank our sponsors and raise a small amount for our charity partners will be held on Saturday 7 October, 12.00pm, before the club’s first XV home game against Kilmarnock.

Charity Partnerships

Please continue to review the charity partnership websites and social media. They have both accepted invitations to attend our sponsor’s lunch. The web addresses are below
https://www.facebook.com/loavesandfishesfoodbankek/
https://healthyandactive.org.uk/
These really are fabulous organisations making a huge difference in OUR community.

Mental Health Initiatives

We have now established contact with LAMH and are in the process of working through possible meetings to structure the club’s mental health welfare support systems.

We will be looking for mental health leadership within the club and possibly other partners in this regard.

New Club Captains Appointed

Our new senior club captain is Alex ‘Ginge’ Irvine replacing the long serving Mark ‘Sparky’ Ellison, welcome to the management team Alex and a massive thanks to Mark who has been integral to the club’s successes and a great assistance to me as I took over the reins from Bruce.

In the ladies section new captain Diane ‘Daisy’ Gourley was affirmed this week and led the team in their first too league outings. In addition academy graduates Chloe Stewart and Samantha Callaghan were appointed as vice captains.

Welcome to the team.

Contact Me

Anyone is welcome to contact me about any club related matters on 07866 566 284 even if its just a chat. Also my club email is president@ekrfc.co.uk

Brendan McNulty, Club President

FROM OUR CLUB HEAD COACH

Our first 2 games have had all the highs and lows of an entire season! A last minute win against Cumnock in our opening game and, a last minute loss to Lenzie after building a 14 point lead. If we go from elation and frustration in 1 week, we have all the signs of a pretty exciting season ahead.

As it stands, only 2 teams have not had a loss in this league. With some of the recruitment we have seen, I don’t think any team will go without a loss this season. West 1 this season is going to be an exciting competition.

In training, we are continuing to identify areas where we need to mature and further develop the skills we need to be effective in this league. This week in particular, we have clear areas where we need to improve before we take on Dalziel away and rounding off the month with Strathaven. Games we are really looking forward to!

See you all on the sidelines!

Craig Brown, Head Coach

Ladies Update from Our Director of Girls and Ladies Rugby

The womans section has been on overdrive through the summer with recruitment and are sitting at around 30 players for training , with the biggest percentage of these ladies having never played rugby before so the challenge..which is a good one.. is to teach them the basics of passing, running and tackling which they have all taken to very well

Last week saw the Woman's team play their first West 2 league game against a strong Irvine team. We had 7 new players out of the team of 19 we fielded who were amazing and yesterday we played our second game against Uddingston/Lenzie with again 19 players on the teamsheet. The things we had worked on in training..defence and tackling.. were stepped up and fairly successful we will keep working hard to continue to improve in other areas.

We knew this was going to be a challenging season but to have started with only 1 player last August to having 22 at training last Tuesday is a massive step and we are thankful that we are getting support and advice from ex players who are coming to the training session to help the ladies out with their vast knowledge and expertise and will only benefit the team going forward.

It is also showing the ladies who have never had a connection with EKRFC what a massively inclusive community club we are with everybody helping and supporting each other.

Elaine Martin, Director of Girls and Ladies Rugby

Academy Update from our Academy Director

The Academy has had a good start to the season. Numbers have continued to stay strong, with a highlight being an u18s squad numbering 22.
Already this season Academy teams have played teams from Ayr to Dumfries, Greenock to Dalziel and Whitecraigs to Biggar.
Working closely with SRU's State School Development Officer we are seeing an increase in interest and participation in 2 of the town's secondary schools. Obviously we hope to see some of those numbers turning up to the club. There will also be a number of primary schools given the opportunity to give rugby a try.
It has been great to see a continuation of last season's inter club support, seen for the National Shield Final, with Academy players supporting the senior teams this season and that support being reciprocated on a Sunday when the Academy teams are playing.
If anyone is interested in giving rugby a try don't hesitate to get in touch.
Robert MacKinnon
Academy Director

Minis Update from Our Minis Convenor

The Minis 23/24 season kicked off with East Kilbride hosting at Calderglen , welcoming both Kilmarnock RFC and Dalziel RFC.
It was a successful morning of Rugby and great to see the teams back out on the pitches and doing what they do best.
The biggest change this season has been the increase in players for the P6 team. Finishing last season with just 6/8 players,the coaches worked hard on their recruitment drive. Visiting local Primary Schools gave them a chance to build up their team with promising talent . The team can now boast a squad of 25 eager players who worked hard through the summer to get up to speed of P7 rugby.
A phenomenal effort!
We travelled to Whitecraigs RFC last week where Hamilton RFC were also in attendance. It was great to see some familiar faces and the players did well in the hot sun.
This Sunday was Biggar festival for the P4 - 7 teams. Over 300 players competing at the festival. A very warm afternoon of Rugby but the teams pushed through and gave it their all. A great day for the teams playing against teams we haven't played before including Currie Chieftains, Dumfries, Lanark. These are big teams, however East Kilbride held their own and outplayed themselves across the teams.
The P1-3s continued their training at Calderglen this morning ready for the Ardrossan festival next weekend!
Laura Fleming, Minis Convenor

From our New Club Captain

Before introducing myself as this years club captain I want to congratulate my predecessor Mark Ellison. Being able to call him my captain and teammate for many years and seeing what a great job he done leading this club, he should be immensely proud.
For those who do not know me, I am Alex and have been playing rugby for East Kilbride since Primary 7, and been part of the seniors for over 10 years now and I am incredibly proud to the club captain this year.
I am really looking forward to this season under Craig and his coaching staff, and continuing to build on the success of reaching the shield final last year. I am also excited for what the women’s team are building and continuing to watch our academy growth from strength to strength.
Finally I cannot wait to welcome even more supporters and academy players on Saturdays at Torrance House as the squad really values the atmosphere everyone builds.”

Alex Irvine
Club Captain

RESPECT - INTEGRITY - TEAMWORK - DISCIPLINE - INCLUSIVITY