News

12/11/09

13/07/09

What a season the club has enjoyed. To start my final report as your Club Chairman I would firstly like to thank all our club sponsors.  A special mention to Bakers and Larners of Holt, our main club sponsors, to the Lobster in Sheringham,  Delaney’s and Stubbs Muggs , also to Laura Leone for her extremely generous financial gift.  Thank you to all our junior team sponsors, without all of your support our club would find it very difficult to manage our seasonal financial commitments. 

This season we continued to maintain 3 senior sides. 

The 1st team, under the very capable and charismatic Jake Van Poorveilt have had a successful season.  Finishing 4th in Eastern Counties 1 (3 places better than the previous season).  We also had a good run in the RFU Junior Vase and won the Norfolk Junior Cup against Lakenham, as well as the Banham Cup against our local rivals Fakenham.  

Despite a difficult start the Owls season improved considerably.  They got into the final of the Eastern Counties Second XV Cup where we narrowly lost to Cantabs.  Richard Bell has managed the team in very difficult circumstances with some senior players retiring or playing fewer games and our younger players finding it challenging playing 2nd XV Rugby.  

The 3rd XV has had a very successful season.  Their captain, Trevor Allen has looked after our young stock of players feeding in from the youth, mixed with our experienced players of the past.  They are Champion’s of Norfolk  Merit Table 3 and therefore promoted to Norfolk Merit Table 2. As well as achieving several solid wins against strong rival opposition.   

I would like to extend a personal thanks to all our club captain’s for their continual hard work  and dedication this season.  

This season along side Chris Fletcher, Ed Steed and Penny Chapman have joined our coaching team.  Ed and Penny have rejuvinated the club training programmes. They are both highly experienced and I implore all our club players to use their expertise and skills next season.  Chris is retiring from our coaching team and on behalf of Holt Rugby Club I would like to thank him for all his hard work and dedication over the last 7 years. 

Richard Hembling our Youth Section Chairman sadly retires this season. I would like to thank him very much for all his hard work throughout the many years he has given the Club.  I take this opportunity to wish the new chairman Charlie Graham all the very best for the new season. The club has fielded a  U13’s, U14’s, U15’s and U17’s and all teams have played well in their games. TheU15’s achieved getting into the final of the Norfolk Junior Cup but unfortunately lost to West Norfolk. A big thank you to all our coaches and managers who tirelessly work with the Youth section. 

Our mini section has had another very good season, all teams have competed well against other Norfolk teams. The huge success of our Kingswood festivals have enabled the mini’s to play against national opposition. Ben Jones has kindly agreed to stay on as our Minis Chairman which I am extremely grateful for and acknowledge what time and dedication he gives to this position.      

I would like to thank the Mini and Youths Committee for all its hard work behind the scenes, which often goes unnoticed.  I would also like to thank and acknowledge all the Coaches, Team Managers, kitchen and bar staff and other volunteers that help Sunday morning rugby run smoothly. 

During this season we have had various club functions.  Archie and John have looked after 11 very successful pre match club lunches. Our annual club dinner was well attended, thank you to John Ross for organising this event. This year we held our Bi-annual Summer ball which was a huge success thanks to Sam & Boo’s hard work and time. I would like to thank the main club committee for all their support over the last two years and wish Richard Seaman all the very best in his tenure as Club Chairman. We are going to have a very challenging time financially going forward your committee have decided that there is  a need to employ a bar steward, also to maintain our high level of coaching staff and to maintain our club house exterior  we will need to raise more income with-in our financial year.

Finally we sadly lost two of our well known club members this year Bill Cubitt and Grahame Simmons both will be very much missed around the clubhouse bar and pitch side.  The success the club enjoys is very much part of their legacy. They are gone but never forgotten. Thank you. 

Chris

26/03/09

Dear All
Summer diary
30th of April - 4th of May Caravans
22nd of May - 31st of May Caravans
5th of June Summer Ball
13th of July - 17th of July Fakenham School Summer Camp.
27th of July -Friday 1st of August Sports Week.

On the 8th of April at 7.00pm, Ed Steed Penny Chapman would like to hold a 1st team players meeting at Holt RFC.
We would also like to hold a 2nd and 3rd team players meeting which I will inform you all of the date when decided.
Thank you
Chris.

We are delighted to have reached the Woodfordes Norfolk Junior Cup Final and are very pleased to be able to host the event at our club.We would like to welcome U.E.A Rugby club our Norfolk President,Vice president and guests, and the Cup sponsors Woodfordes.On behalf of Holt Rugby Club thank you for your sponsorship, in these uncertain financial times your support is greatly appreciated.
I am very proud that our club has reached three finals this year,the 2nd fifteen are in the final of the Eastern Counties plate against Cantabs, the under 15s our in the final of the Norfolk cup against West Norfolk.Good luck to both teams.Also our U10s and 11s reached the quarter finals of the Prima Cup and Semi finals of the Landrover Cup.

In reaching the Norfolk Junior Cup final we managed to overcome Dereham at home in the Quarter final.

a hard fought entertaining match but coming out eventual winners 21points to 6.We then travelled to Swaffham to play the semi final.Another hard fought typical cup game, the game was poised at 15-15 until the final quarter when the outstanding Sam Wright scored 2 tries to end the match 23-15.
This evenings game is quite unique as both sides are coached by Ed Steed and Penny Chapman who will of course remain completely neutral for the final.On behalf of Holt I would like to thank them both very much for there hard work and endeavor in coaching our club this season.I would also like to thank our club captain Jake Van Poortvliet for all his hard work this season.
I am sure we will have an entertaining game and hope you will all enjoy your evening at Holt.
Thank you
Chris Harrison(Chairman)

Date:13/03/09

Re:-  SUMMER BALL - FRIDAY JUNE 5th 2009 

Dear Member / Vice President / , 

Two years have passed and it is now time to start organising the 2009 Holt Rugby Club Summer Ball.  Due to the popularity of our Ball, tickets will be in demand and I am therefore writing to all members and vice-presidents to give them the opportunity to book a table first. We have booked the same large Marquee this year (over 1000 square feet), and have kept with what seemed to be a winning formula for the dinner. The 2009 Ball will be the most sought-after Ticket of the summer, so please book early to avoid disappointment.

Click here to download the form and send back to me :FORM

HOLT RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB

            SUMMER BALL - FRIDAY JUNE 5th  2009

We will soon be booking tables for The 2009 Holt Rugby Club Summer Ball on Friday 5th June, at the Rugby Club, High Kelling.  Please keep the date if you intend to attend.

The proceeds are used to fund improvements to the facilities to benefit the vast number of players, from mini’s (4-12 years old) , Youth and Ladies sections,  through to our three Adult sides.

Tickets are £45 per person and this includes a three-course dinner, provided by Southhill Caterers and Carl Graves is operating his hot beef carvery, which we know will be sumptuous. Dancing is to The Emma Hall Band  and Disco to 2.00am. Tables will be for 8 to 12 people.  If you would like to book a table then please log on to our website at www.holtrfc.com where you can find the invitation, if you are a member you will receive an invitation in the post shortly, or contact Sam Papworth on 07770 851717 or sampap@tiscali.co.uk

HOLT RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB

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Dear All

Another busy season is at an end at Holt Rugby Club. We say a great big thank you to our main club sponsors ‘Cookes of Fakenham’ for all your support this year.

Our 1st team have had a good season in Eastern Counties One improving our position by four places compared to last year. Our young players are gaining more confidence in their ability. Gibbs, Woodsy, Wright, Amiss, Miller our young forwards, who have been ably supported by Richards, Van Poortvliet, Child, Roper, Cherry and Hillier all have been the bedrock of the team.

The forwards have competed well against all opposition and usually come out on top. Bruce Van Poortvliet has had an excellent season as scrumhalf, scoring most of our tries. He will be very much missed next year when he returns to ‘Harper Adams’.

Congratulations to the backs consisting of Ilsley, Tuthill, Calverly, Self, Bundock, Gill Robson, Crook and Allen, they all showed commitment and determination throughout the season. A big thank you to Guy Roper who has been our club Captain for the last two seasons. He has decided to hang his boots up and we thank him for his long service to the club, and very much hope he will be a regular face at Holt. Also, thank you to Jake Van Poortvliet who has always been around to help captain the side and to encourage our younger members.

Thank you to Mark Simmons Team Manager and Chris Fletcher our club coach this year for all your hard work with the team. We are currently looking for an assistant coach to help with the backs and also to be with the team on match days to give them support.

The Owls captained by Matt Skinner have had an excellent season finishing second in Norfolk League One. With a blend of youth and experience and great team spirit they have had some fantastic results. Thank you Matt for all your hard work this year.

Trevor Allen has captained the Thirds this year. They have fielded a team every week and usually had between 15 – 20 players available. With the Colts folding this year, Trevor has taken the 17 year olds under his wing and produced some high quality Rugby.

Thank you Trevor for all your hard work and commitment to the team, the Thirds provide the foundations for our young players entering senior rugby. He has also agreed to captain the side for another season which is very good news for the club and team.

Richard Hembling and Ben Jones have had a fantastic season with the Mini’s and Youth’s, with over 340 members fielding a team in every age group, all performing well in the various festivals held around the county. Charlie Crafer organised two Kingswood Festivals this season, which were a great success, we had visiting teams from all over the country which gave us a good indication of our own standard in rugby.

None of these events can take place without the countless volunteers and coaches who put in so much time and effort giving up all their Sunday’s to help our young people. A big thank you to you all.

Rob and Sue Eustace have managed the kitchen and our bar this year. The kitchen has been our most successful enterprise producing high quality food unsurpassed anywhere in the county. A big thank you to you both.

John Winterton has run our bar for our Saturday games with the help of Stevie, Lynn and Denny. Thank you for letting our Saturday afternoons run smoothly, especially on our lunch days. We had nine sponsored lunches this year which were a great success and well attended, superbly marshalled by Archie Mitchell and John Wykes.

John Wrighton our club caretaker has kept the clubhouse and grounds in excellent condition – thank you for all your hard work.

Thank you to the main club committee, Bill Cubbitt (President), John Miller (Treasurer), David Hitchen (Secretary), Richard Seaman (Vice Chairman), Sam Papworth (House), Alan Gibbs (Fixtures Secretary) who has supported all the away games and written excellent reports for the local press, Steve Dye (Sponsorship), who has brought in much needed finances for the club, our sponsors and especially our main club Sponsor this year ‘Cookes’.

Roy Lawrence our past chairman is always available for much needed advice, and who co-ordinated club host, John Miller our treasurer who has tried to keep our club finances on track especially this year with our high expenditure on club improvements.

A personal big thank you to you all for your support during the season.

Finally, I hope everyone has a good rest during the Summer, and I look forward to seeing you all in September for hopefully another memorable season a Holt Rugby Club.
Chris Harrison