Committee power is driving club ahead

GUERNSEY RUFC players are taking responsibility for driving the club forward. After several years of relying on a few volunteers to do vital behind-the-scenes work, much of which was undertaken by dedicated chairman Ady Le Page, a players' committee has been formed to delegate the responsibilities.

This has come about for three reasons, according to first-team captain Andy Bailey.

Firstly, the GRUFC committee had too much to do and with various positions not filled, it did not have the capacity to do everything expected.

Secondly, Bailey's captaincy workload was huge, with a lot of player- and team-related issues and general committee matters falling into his lap.

'I wasn't able to focus fully on captaining the side as my workload was so high.'

Finally, because it is their rugby club, it was felt that the players should be taking more responsibility for what happens and how it progresses.

'We formed the players' committee to take on the player/team-related roles - the ones that directly affect the team - although I think it will be a natural progression that the players committee will expand and take on more roles within the club.

'This would probably take place as and when a task is required that the committee cannot take on - it would then be handed to the players to resolve and we are already seeing this.

'From the outset, our aim was to really generate a club feel, with everyone pulling in the same direction, making everyone feel they're part of something.'

Currently, the roles vary from simple tasks such as arranging programme sellers on first XV match days at Foote's Lane to arranging travel for ad-hoc fixtures and helping overseas players settle into island life.

'Jim Regnard has contributed a huge amount on behalf of the players' committee, arranging our pre-season fixture in Bath and team polo shirts. He also put in a lot of ground work to get Jordan Reynalds and Cameron Pattern to join the club.'

Another example is Carl Gardner, who is the club statistician and fixture secretary.

In addition to their current roles, the committee is investigating various fund-raising projects, preparation for the Siam Cup and other social events, having been given the mandate by Le Page to come up with projects they feel will benefit the club.