Club News
Staines RFC awarded RFU Club Accreditation.
On the 28th April 2012 Bob Lawless (Club President, Staines RFC) and Trevor Tate-Burd (Deputy Chair Youth Staines RFC ) received the RFU Accreditation Award and Mini & Youth accreditation Award from Rob Udwin (Middlesex Representative on the RFU council) and Phil Duffy (Middlesex Rugby Development Officer).
Staines joins an elite group of 10 Middlesex clubs to achieve this prestigious award, demonstrating the, quality of provision Staines RFC offers and the club’s commitment to the continued development of young rugby players. The criteria for the Sport England 'Safe, Effective & Child Friendly Club' mark is integrated within the accreditation award.
In making the award the RFU stated that 'Club rugby lies at the heart of rugby in England. It is where the game is played in huge numbers and it is the environment that the RFU Development Department is committed to supporting by strengthening clubs and growing the game in the communities around them'.
As part of this commitment the RFU have created a new Club Accreditation scheme that will help all club sections to become stronger, more effective, and more efficient and more enjoyable places in which to play rugby. Unlike other accreditation schemes, this one provides a framework for a club to show what it is doing, how it does it, and where it can improve.
The RFU hopes that clubs will be both challenged by the process and enjoy it. It will allow clubs to exhibit all that is good about rugby in their adult sections, mini and youth, women and girls and touch rugby, while demonstrating that this is all achieved in a friendly, welcoming environment.
The Club Accreditation scheme is based upon the six Key Drivers identified as crucial to a strong club:
1. Retaining & Developing Players
2. Recruiting New Players
3. Recruiting & Retaining High Quality Coaches, Volunteers & Referees
4. Effective & Efficient Facilities
5. Effective & Efficient Management and Governance
6. Integration with the Local Community
Each of these Key Drivers, together with the Core Values of the game, is represented within the Club Accreditation scheme and together they represent the component parts of a strong, sustainable club.
The scheme is straightforward and designed to both recognize and assist a club to continually improve, while demonstrating a real commitment to providing all that's best in rugby union. The RFU’s Community Game Board, a partnership between executive staff and volunteers, sees the scheme as an exciting development in the way the RFU supports its member clubs.
Trevor Tate-Burd commented: 'The RFU Club Accreditation award has been a long time coming; this has come about because of the hard work put in by all the team. For the award we had to put in place new policies procedures and initiatives, with these we can make Staines Rugby club even better, and move forward by strengthening our partnerships with the local community, Middlesex and the RFU.'
This will enable us to have Rugby played at the Reeves for generations to come.
