Hackney RFC is having a whole club development workshop on 27th September 2016.
 
It will be taking place at the Lea Rowing Club next to Springhill, starting at 7.00pm and finishing at 9.30pm - dinner will be provided and there is also a bar.
 
The workshop is going to be run by the RFU and this is about how we as a whole club - both senior and junior - continue to develop and grow. The evening will be filmed by the RFU and will also be a great opportunity to have a social evening with our fellow members.
 
Hackney is your club and the path forward is your vision. We have a junior development plan and a senior development plan and this is an opportunity to combine the two together and have a united club development plan.
 
We are looking for input from coaches, parents, and players new and old - each one of your experiences will be very relevant.

The 2016/2017 season at Hackney Bulls kicks off this Sunday (September 4) with training for all age groups and the Belles at Springhill – 10am start.
 
All teams will be training on or around the pitches on the clubhouse side of the road – i.e. not in the park. Please be aware that there is a rowing regatta also taking place on Sunday, so parking will be very tight.
 
The clubhouse will be open throughout the morning, offering up bacon sandwiches and other snacks along with tea and coffee. Kit will also be on sale.

Registration 
Registration forms for the new season can be downloaded here – parents/carers/players will need to fill in all of the forms. It’s easier if you fill them in beforehand and bring them with you to the registration tent outside the clubhouse on Sunday - spare forms will be also available on Sunday or you can also download them via the website.
 
Every child who plays for the club needs to be registered with the club, regardless of whether they have paid fees or not. Any questions, please speak with your coach or our new registration secretary Noelia via noeliamartinez-gil@hotmail.co.uk.
 
Fees 
Fees for the season remain at £100 for the season, with £70 for any subsequent child. Bursaries are available – please speak with your coach or our safeguarding officer Mary Impey via maryimpey@btinternet.com.
 
Bank transfers can be made using your child’s surname and age group as a reference - e.g. SMITH U7. Please note that the club has a new bank account this season: 
 
Barclays Bank plc
Sort code 20-44-91
Account number 50389471
 
We also accept cash and cheques, which should be made out to either “Hackney Bulls” or “Hackney Rugby Football Club Limited”.
 
If anyone can volunteer their services to help out with registration over the next few Sundays, please get in touch with Noelia or Mary. Alternatively, turn up at the clubhouse at 9.30am on the day.

 
Coach contacts 
We are delighted to welcome several new faces to the club for the upcoming season. Full details of the lead coach for each year can be found below.

We always have plenty of room for an aspiring Eddie Jones, so if you would like to help out with coaching, please contact head coach Milton Stephens. 
 
u6s - Mary Impey
u7s - Cathal Callanan
u8s - TBC 
u9s - Andy Muscat
u10s - John Corbett
u11s - Niall Quinn
u12s - Gerry Corkery
u13s - Owain Impey
u14s - Reece Riley
u15s - Carl Edwards
u16s - Steve Apps
u17s - Alastair Duncan
u18s - Fabrizio Lo Re
​Belles - Tom Jones 
Head of Community Coaching - Sagan Daniels
Head Coach - Milton Stephens
 
Age Grade Rugby 
This season also sees the implementation of the RFU’s Age Grade Rugby programme, which means several important rule changes across the age groups. Click here for a flyer outlining the new rules and guidelines - alternatively speak to your child’s coach or access the rules via the individual team pages on the club website.

Club development workshop 
We are hosting a club development workshop with the RFU on the evening of Tuesday, September 27 at a venue to be confirmed somewhere in Hackney.
 
This will be an ideal opportunity for anyone with an interest in finding out about how the club works and thinking of volunteering in any capacity. Further details will be released nearer the time.

Hackney Rugby Community Team are looking forward to seeing you at our free summer sessions. You don’t need any rugby experience, knowledge or special equipment, just bring yourself, lots of water, trainers and sportswear.

​Rugby our way, is fun and a sport for all shapes and sizes and all fitness levels, it is for everyone. 
​
All our coaches are RFU qualified and have DBS clearance, they coach in schools all over Hackney and love their work.
 
Wednesdays from July 27 at Spring Hill, Springfield Park, E5 9BL from 3pm to 6pm. This is for all ages, boys and girls. Please bring water, sunscreen, extra layers and a packed tea, snacks will be on sale.

Thursdays from July 28 at Clissold Park N16 9HJ from 2pm to 3pm. This is a family session for children under the age of 7 and their carers.

Fridays from July 29 at Haggerston Park E2 8QH 2.30 to 4pm for 8-13s and 4.30 to 6pm for 14-19s. In association with Young Hackney Forest Rd Hub. Please bring water, sunscreen and extra layers.

Any questions, please email Mary on safeguarding@hackneybulls.co.uk or send a text to 07399511193.
Have a great summer.

This is an open invitation - Lions Sports Academy, supported by Middlesex Rugby, will be running an introduction session for players in the U16s/Year 11 next season (2016-17) tomorrow (July 16) in Central London. 
        
Venue - Regents Park, London, NW1 4NR.
Date – Saturday, 16th July 2016
Times - Registration 10.00 
Time of Event - Start 10.30 - Finishes 15.00
Player’s Meeting Point - "The Hub" café & changing Room area at 10.00.
Player’s to bring packed lunch and water.  Refreshments are available at the Hub café at the player’s expense
Middlesex Contact – Bob Lawless 07803 196409 (Text only)
Lions Sport Academy Head Coach – Andy Jones 07585 561 183
 
The purpose of the day is to learn new skills in a fun safe environment under the guidance of Middlesex Coaches who are with Lions Sport Academy.  There will be no contact with an emphasis on running/handling/evasive skills.
​

AJ and Reece have been nominated for the Middlesex Rugby 2016 Volunteer Recognition Awards - AJ is up for the Individual Award, while Reece features among the nominations for Young Volunteer Award. 

You can cast your vote on the Middlesex Rugby website here. Please vote and help get them both the recognition they (and the club) deserve. 

​Please find attached (here) the calling notice for the club’s AGM from 8pm on the 24th May downstairs at The Pub on the Park, on London Fields (function room called the Bears Den).

We have the room from 7.30pm and will be staring at 8pm.

The first 5 resolutions are club wide business. I anticipate these will take 15 mins to get through. We will then break for 15 mins (while the Exec Committee will appoint the Junior Committee & club wide positions and everyone else goes to the bar), then resume at 8.30pm with the Senior business and elections. This gives the opportunity for anyone from the Junior side to depart before the Senior elections take place, which may take a little while, should they so wish.

Our constitution can be found on the hackneyrfc.co.uk website under The Club>Policy and Document>HRFC Mems & Arts – 04 April 2014. The document has both the Memorandum and Articles of Association (AA). It is the Articles Of Association that is our constitution and if I make a reference to these later in this explanation it will be to the Articles, not the Memorandum.

Voting is club wide. So eligible voters from the youth section may vote on a resolution relating to the adult and vice versa.

Eligible voters (AA5):
From the Youth section (Hackney Bulls), an eligible voter is someone who has paid the youth membership fee or has been allocated a bursary for the season. If they are 16 or over they can vote in their own right. If they are under 16 an adult representative can vote on their behalf, each family having one vote in aggregate.

Proxies - The process for Proxies is laid out in AA60. If you are attending the meeting with proxies could you let me know before the meeting to ease the process.

Resolutions 1 & 2 adopting last years AGM notes and accounts.  Please find attached here (AGM notes) and here (accounts). 

Resolution 3 - Exec Committee. These are the clubs Directors. Four of these positions are voted in at the AGM: President (Roy Irwin, who has departed for New Zealand); Chair (Anthony Joseph); Treasurer (this position remained vacant all year) & Secretary (John Young).

The Junior and Senior Committees nominate one member each (usually the Chair of each) to the Exec.

Resolution 4 - Wiseman. Please see AA 108-112. The club has approx £17k in a development fund (which originally came from the bar profits prior to the clubhouse getting burnt down). The three Wisemen are to ensure that if any of this money is spent it is done so to develop the club and not to just cover operational shortfalls. Seth Brook’s three-year tenure has come to an end and is willing to stand for another three years. Any other nominations to me, please.

Resolution 5 – permission to not have audited accounts. I’m not entirely sure if a charity needs to do this, a company certainly needs to. No harm in getting the motion passed and I can check later.

The Junior Committee. The Committee structure and composition are appointed by the Executive Committee, which will be done in the break in the AGM. There will be no vote on these in the AGM.

Clubwide appointed positions. Appointed by the Executive Committee. Safeguarding officer (Mary Impey), Club coaching Co-ordinator (Fred Pentecost) and Director of Women and Girls Rugby (Sagan Daniels).

The Senior Committee. Once the AGM has agreed the structure (resolution 6) the members will then be voted upon (resolution 7). The proposed structure (with incumbents) is:

Voted positions: Chair (Jess Cobb); Secretary (John Young); Treasurer (Andy Pilkington); Fixtures Sec (Paul Baker); Social Secretary (Claire-Aimee Grimshaw); Registration Secretary (Dan Worth); Web Officer (Ollie Relph); Club Captain (Patch Thompson); Ladies Captain (Emily Ryan); 1s Captain (Will Bowers); 2s Captain (Shaun Rooke); 3s Captain (Chris Reay); 4s Captain (Anthony Joseph).

Senior appointed positions: Tickets (Simon Ferguson); Discipline (Ollie Hart); 7s (PJ Lloyd); Tour (Jonny Crocket).

NB: where the names are highlighted I have been informed that person is not standing for re-election for that role. All elected roles are vacated and re-appointed.

If there are any other proposed resolutions could you send these to me (secretary@hackneyrfc.co.uk) ASAP and I will slot into the appropriate half of the meeting and circulate.

Any queries, please let me know. Hopefully we will see you on the night.
 
John Young
 
Secretary – Hackney RFC

Celebrate the end of another fantastic season at Springhill this Sunday, with a host of fun and games on offer between 10am and 2pm. 

Activities for this year include:

- Raffle and tombola
- Face painting 
- Welly wanging and hay bale pitching 
- Coconut shy 
- Coaches in the stocks 
- Beat the buzzer 
- Kit stall 
- Loads of rugby-related games 

Have lunch at the BBQ and Cake Stall and bring friends.

There will also be a senior match, with Hackney RFC's 4th XV playing London Japanese at 12.30pm, plus the traditional end of season presentations. 

Come and have fun while supporting the club! 


Fancy helping out on the day? 

If you can spare any time helping to run stalls, set up or tidy up at the end of the day, please contact AJ via anthony@squareone.uk.com or on 07831 834 686. 

There will also be a Club Day meeting this Thursday (April 28) at 125 Church Street (7pm in the basement) - all are welcome, so please come along and volunteer your services.  


Don't forget that Petchey Academy and Haggerston Park satellite clubs are carrying on as usual over the coming months - Petchey Tues 5-7 and Haggerston Fri 4.30-6. More information can be found here. A full programme of summer rugby will be also be announced soon. ​

Wednesday, April 6, 125 Church Street N16 0UH - 7pm start 
Interested in how the club is managed?
Want to have an input into its running?
Willing to volunteer and help out in some capacity?
 
Come to our committee meeting this Wednesday evening to make your voice heard. Get involved and have your say in the running of the club.

We would also like people to help out in a range of roles, not just coaching but everything from working with the governance and finances of the club right through to assistance with the kit and food on a Sunday morning.

Help make the club a better place and learn new skills as part of a friendly and community-driven organisation. 

At the moment, we really need a junior fixtures secretary (to work with the U12s to U18s) and a youth membership secretary. Full job descriptions can be found here (junior fixtures) and here (youth membership). 

Please come along if you can help in any way, or alternatively contact Julien, AJ or Mary. ​