The Virtual Terrace • Re: Future of the Game
JTCFJG wrote:
First part: Incorrect, I did not say a one division 'league' I said a league at different levels.
Second part partly correct, the vast majority of the clubs do needs to be semi professional, as I suggested several months ago and more recently. ONLY the best in marketing and clubs that can therefore command crowds close to or above 10K in the SL. Clubs that cannot will be very unlikely to be full time after the COVID crisis as the costs of other necessities of medical testing, physicians etc, 'MAY' negate a full time squad of 30 to 35 players. hence players will drop down to the next level;l.
Third part 'All of the resource currently put into the community game and the community built around the sport would massively diminish the game' WRONG: The game revolves around the community clubs providing players, EVERY single young player started in one. The Foundations do a good job in the community, some better than others. To get the big clubs involved in the community bring children from all backgrounds to clubs and then turns into turnstiles spinning on game days at the main town/city clubs. As an example, Sir Keith Mumby, Jimmy Thompson and Keith Bridges improved my defensive work and developed my understanding of how to control a game at summer rugby camps and then U17s level. This, after I had started in my village club aged around seven years of age with local coaches. Here I am today still involved, still in love with our game and still fighting for that game and its grass roots. It is not about me, BUT if community clubs die, due to lack of 'investment' from the local big club. Charity Status, allows the big clubs to put in lots of resources, time and investment in the community and in schools through summer clubs and The ETP. This is a MUST going forward to ensure greater crowds in the years that follow . Indeed, Foundation money keeps the smaller clubs going. It usually pays the coaches salaries, so they obliged to go into schools.
This is the future of the game, none whining and whinging about TWP.
Where will the money come from that "MUST" continue to be invested, if most of our SL clubs and the huge amount of community work that they do, can no longer be afforded.
Are we expecting the English amateur clubs to ultimately provide the new N. American clubs with their players and most importantly, IF there are only half a dozen top flight English clubs, the number of supporters attending games on a weekly basis will fall off dramatically and as a consequence of this, those very supporters and their off spring, just wont go along to their local amateur club in the first place.
This whole issue is extremely far reaching and if "we" get it wrong, their will be very little left.
I'm sure that you know just how difficult it is to entice juniors into any sport (apart from football) and many clubs are already struggling for numbers.
Without a significant number of English SL clubs, the whole game over here is at risk. I would go as far as suggesting that, we shouldn't allow the number of top flight clubs to drop any further than the 9/10 that we have now.
If there is to be a number of new clubs coming into the current pyramid, they have to be in addition to what we have now and not replacing them.
This will impact on player resources as we are already struggling for sufficient quality in number and there is a major risk of "spreading the butter too thin".
It's a serious conundrum, very serious, made increasingly difficult with the covid19 situation.
I consider myself pretty open minded on expansion but, to swap our game for fancy City named clubs at the expense of what we have now, no thanks.
Nigel Wood has an awful lot to answer for and for him to now suggest that there should be a plan is something that he should have thought a little more about, before RL embarking on it's current course.
Statistics: Posted by wrencat1873 — Thu Jul 02, 2020 12:33 pm