What’s your role at the rugby club?

I’m the new/incoming chair of mini rugby and I am also part of the U7s (soon to be U8s!) coaching team.

And what does that mean?

It means I will be making sure that all our squads have what they need in terms of playing and training resources, coaches, squad managers and other volunteers such as first aiders. I’d also say being active in building the community spirit for minis is an important aspect of it. The other part (U7s), I suppose would be called herding cats (and trying to teach them to run forward with a rugby ball!)

Why did you choose to get involved?

My family has been involved with the club now for 3 years and for two of those years I’ve been helping with coaching (with Kinders and then U7s). Having 2 boys playing in the minis section made me want to volunteer and help. I’ll be going through with one of them from Kinders to U11s (I hope!) so I thought spending time as the chair of mini rugby would be a great opportunity to grow and develop as a coach and to give back to the club.

What were your first impressions of the club?

Very welcoming, with a strong emphasis on inclusion and working with all the kids regardless of ability. The club community and friends we’ve made here really helped my family settle in the area after moving back to England from the USA during the covid lockdowns and has been an important reason we’ve stayed in the local area. My wife and I and our kids have all made good friends here.

What’s the best aspect of the club?

Providing practical and social opportunities for everyone to be involved, parents and kids, whether this be coaching/playing or volunteering in other capacities on weekends, or at festivals and on tour. Thursday evening touch isn’t too bad either!

If you could change one aspect of the club, what would it be, and why?

I’d like to see more of us hanging around the clubhouse/bar when we can after training sessions so that we can all build networks across the club over different age groups. I think it’s important to be able to share ideas, foster community and make new friends.

What’s your best memory at the rugby club?

This is hard – I will have to cheat and add 2 here. The first is of my younger son, Caiden, playing in his first festival (our home festival too!) last year, as this meant I had both my kids (Steven being the other) representing the club in festivals for the first time. The second is seeing our U7s squad grow into decent little rugby players and playing some very good rugby in the final few festivals of the season. (Oh, Martin Johnson on tour – that would be 3 then).

Describe the rugby club in three words

Welcoming, committed, strong.

Who else would you like to see featured in our “60 seconds with…” series?

Lee Musgrave