Unfortunately in recent months we've been hearing that Swaffham had run into problems. Support from the CB - Eastern Counties - seems to have all but collapsed, fixtures seemed to be a growing problem and several players were lost to other clubs (including Chloe, who came to us). However, I think we all hoped that things would turn round for them. Those behind the club were so dedicated, and the club was producing so many talented players, that surely they'd find a way through?
Unfortunately this evening I received the following message:
John, can you take the link down for the Swaffham girls site from the Letchworth one. We have turned the light off, shut the door, etc........
cheers
spikeThe last straw seems to have been the RFUW's proposals for leagues. The disappearance of Swaffham may also all but kill off the Eastern Counties team, and therefore any route into representative rugby for girls in Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, as the only significant club across the two counties would seem to be Sudbury.
Its all a reminder - and both a scary and timely one - about how fragile the girls game is. Ill considered one size fits all policies launched from the centre can be disastrous, regardless of how well intentioned they may be.
I feel that it needs pointing out that it wasn't so much the support from EC was poor, in fact the opposite is true, more the reluctance of coaches at clubs in Norfolk or Cambs to work together to form county club clusters to support any girls already at U15 or U18,or more importantly, those potentially moving up from U12, has made Swaffham's position impossible.
ReplyDeleteWe can only hope that others learn from this sorry situation and take heed.
John,
ReplyDeleteAnonymous makes a good point but the support from the CB for the girls remains sketchy despite positive comments etc.
As a club we would wish to continue to support girls rugby but sadly this is not sustainable at the girl and therefore the blog gives the wrong impression.
We will continue to sign-post girls to matches where we can. As you mentioned Chloe there are others who regularly make the journey to play and also attend SoR (as EC does not have an SoR for girls and as such little to aspire to).
On behalf of our club I would like to offer our thanks for your support during our time.
I remain hopeful that the game will in time re-establish itself here.
Regards,
Spike