League rugby

Little snippet of news that has reached me - apparently Welwyn have joined the South East girls league, going straight into Division One alongside Dorking, Esher, Gravesend, Havant & Petersfield, West Surrey District, Worthing and Wimborne.

This is interesting for a number of reason, most significant of which to us is that as these leagues grow and draw in more sides it gets increasingly difficult for teams outside leagues to get fixtures. The reason we aren't playing Milton Keynes this season (and only played them once last) was because of their participation in the Thames Valley league.

It raises the question of where we should be doing. Should we do the same?

Welwyn always seem to have looked on themselves as being a "London" or at least "south" facing team so in many ways it is a logical step. At Letchworth, being further north, we've always looked the other way - almost all of our games over the years have been in east or the midlands (in fact the trip to Wimborne at the end of the month will, I think, be the first time we have ever played south of the Thames - apart from the National Cup and the tour) so following Welwyn's lead would not perhaps be appropriate (even before you look at the distances involved).

The Thames Valley league might be an alternative, but at present is a competion for county-based "cluster" teams - would also involve long trips away from our "patch" to Oxfordshire and Berkshire.

There are at present no leagues in East or East Midlands, though the matter has been discussed in East but has never really got very far. There were a numberof reasons for this - such as teams not wanting to be tied down - but also a general perference for "friendly" games during a period when clubs are developing, which is understandable.

However I suspect that it will not be long before its raised again though - in East Midlands perhaps if not in East - and whatever we may think about league rugby once a league is formed in either region then we will inevitably have to join it. It would be a shame in some ways as it would mean a more limited diet of the "same" teams most weekends, which I know many of you find a bit frustrating already ("oh no - not x again!" was the cry that saw us enter the East Mids 10s last season instead of the "local" event) but it will be that or precious few fixtures at all!

The ideal solution (well, ideal for us!) would be a "East of England" league that covered both regions - but I can't see that going down well in Essex...

Anyway - what do you all think? Should we support (or even initiate) the idea of leagues in one region or the other (or both - we now have seats on both the East and East Midlands forums so we could raise it in either)?