What's what at Bradford and Bingley RFC
Edition Number one, 27th August 2020
This is an online Newsletter for and about Bradford and Bingley RFC - “The Bees”.
This is a first edition of this publication and above all is an experiment to see if this is a viable way of getting the “the buzz” about the Bees out there.
Ordinarily, in September of any year, everyone in the Rugby Community would be in the final stages of getting ready for the new season; obviously 2020 is a huge exception to that norm and a result we are left still in the dark tunnel of anticipation as we keep the faith that we will see a season at some point in the coming months.
Obviously the big boys, Premiership Rugby, have got their boots back on and can be found knocking lumps out of the end of the 19/20 season somewhere out there on non-terrestrial television. That, at least is a start, but exists in a parallel universe only connected to us at the Bees by the shape of the ball they are chasing.
So what the very devil has been happening in and around The Bees and our humble abode at BD16 1LT?
Presidential Change.
Under normal circumstances, the club appoints a President who will hold office for two years on a two yearly cycle. This pattern has been in place since the club was founded in 1982, with the exception of Mr Tony Rae who served for three years.
The club’s President for the 2018/19 and 2019/20 seasons was Mr Glen Shaw. Unfortunately, Glen’s tenure was cut short by the Pandemic so instead of “presiding” over two full league seasons, which at the Bees’ level in the RFU pyramid, would be 52 league games, Glen was at the helm for 47 games over the two seasons of his term.
The RFU year runs until June 30th each year, so from July 1st, Glen passed over the horse hair shirt and bamboo underpants of office to Mr Nick Patterson, who should remain in situ until June 30th 2022.
Bingley Weekender/Bingley Music Live
A major casualty of the Pandemic was the Bingley Weekender event which should have been held at Wagon Lane on the weekend of September 4th to 6th. Some better news is that the event has been re-scheduled for August 2021.
The festival weekend is the biggest money earner for the Club each season, so its absence this year has torn rather a large hole in the Financial bucket, but as the Club is on a reasonable financial footing, the loss of income has not proven catastrophic, but we will no doubt now be flooded this winter, just to add to the challenge.
There was all sorts of speculation floating about when the Bingley Music Live event mutated into the Bingley weekender last year. To avoid further confusion in the coming year, perhaps some background here, might help.
When the Bingley Music Live event was created to replace the old “Party in the Park” which Bradford Met Council had subsidised in Myrtle Park for a few years, the event was transformed from a bit of a lark in the park to something approaching a “proper” music festival.
After a quick shandy in the Bees Clubhouse one Sunday Lunchtime, Mr Glen Shaw was galvanised into action and contacted Bradford Council to enquire about the provision of camping facilities for the infant festival. After all, if its a three day event and the idea was to draw in crowds from further afield than the “BD” post code, there might be a chance that they might fancy stopping overnight. So, Bees Camping was born.
The music side of things and the actual Festival site remained completely outside anything that the Bees or Bees Camping was involved in, until the spring of 2019 when Bradford Council announced that they were going to give Myrtle Park a year off and Bingley Music Live would not be happening in 2019.
Again we see Glen Shaw galloping across our screens. This time Glen spoke to the Promoters of the BML event and asked if they would like to move the whole festival to our site at Wagon Lane, as most of the acts were booked anyway.
So, Bingley Weekender was born.
We were due to repeat BW at Wagon Lane this September, but the Pandemic obviously put a large kaibosh on that idea. However, the Promoters have already announced that they have moved all their contracts forward to August 2021 and it seems that a large three day event will once more be on the map and in the Social Calendar in some shape or form for The Bees in August 2021.
The Weekender website, which confirms the dates and line up can be found here
We will be keeping all members and friends of the club informed of all developments as we always need volunteers to help run this weekend. Just as a final point and to let you know the scale of its importance to the club, in the ten years that Glen and Claire Shaw have managed Bees Camping, it has brought it somewhere north of £500,000 to the club.
Playing Matters
As it is clear that the return of Senior Rugby remains a matter of several weeks away, there is not much detail we can furnish on this subject quite yet.
Hugh Gumbs remains the man at the top in terms of all coaching and playing considerations for a third season and will be updating us on all things to do with playing the game in a subsequent Newsletter, but in the mean time, what do we know?
We know for certain that Tom Cummins has left to chance his arm at Otley and we know that Tom Booth has moved to London and will not be leading us into battle this coming season. As a result of Tom Booth’s departure, Mat Cochrane has been appointed Club Skipper and it is certain that “Cockers” will continue to give 110% to the cause and will be a great leader for the Club on the field next season.
Another significant loss for us was Lance Taylor who was forced to return to his native New Zealand as the Pandemic started to get serious. Lance and Krysta will be missed by everyone at Wagon Lane and hopefully our paths will cross in the none too distant future.
There has been limited training going on down at Wagon Lane, but a major success for the club already this Pandemic has been the huge enthusiasm shown by the Under 16 squad who have taken on the role as the most senior Junior side with real gusto over the last few weeks. As we get nearer to a return to the playing field, this newsletter will also feature updates on all our Junior Sides.
Management Structure
The Club’s committee lost two valued members due to their work commitments over the Summer as Tim Robinson and Dave Hemsley stood down. The Club’s Senior Committee now looks like this:
Chairman: Nick Patterson
Secretary: Ric Marshall
Treasurer: Chris Narey
Membership: Chris Hemsley
Rugby Chair: Chris Hemsley
Bingley Camping/Events: Glen Shaw, Claire Shaw
Grounds and Facilities: John Fletcher
Junior Liaison: Iain Taylor
Junior Chair: Andy Watts
Fixtures: Steve Balmforth
Press: Nick Patterson
Bumbles Liaison: Andy Collis
Committee Members: Robin Bolton, Dan Ibbotson, Gerwyn Bryan, Rob Greaves
Junior Presentation and Open Day Sunday 6th September
In an attempt to draw a line under the 2019/20 season and to get the Juniors back on their feet for the upcoming season, the Juniors will be holding their Presentations for the last season at Wagon Lane on Sunday 6th September. There will also be the facility to pay memberships for 2020/21 and to share a lemonade and a bag of crisps with other Junior Parents and Members you might not have seen since March!
The whole event will be outside the club house and will use the Marquee as much as possible to keep everyone socially distant and safe during the Presentations.
The Presentations and social gatherings will begin at 12 noon.
The day will start with training sessions for the Junior squads, Under 7s to Under 12s, from 10.30 am, although specific details for each age group will be distributed by the relevant team manager.
The best contact details for all matters related to Junior Rugby are:
Beesrfc@gmail.com or ring this number 0771 3511296
Membership 2020/21
Although there is obviously no Rugby being played at Wagon Lane currently, we have to keep feeding the beast and generally keep our show on the road. Membership fees for the 20/21 season have been kept the same as last season and Chris Hemsley will be again in charge of prizing some brass off all and sundry in the coming weeks.
However, as we are trying to embrace the 21st Century and move towards a cash-less way of working, we will be looking to make the ability to pay your subscriptions as widely available as possible on as many platforms as possible. Andy Watts and other members of the Junior Committee will be on hand on September 6th to kick off the collection of Junior Fees for players, their parents and other family members. Details of other events where memberships can be paid will appear on the club’s website and in subsequent editions of this Newsletter.
Andy and his team will also be hoping to embrace England Rugby’s Membership system - part of their online offering known as GMS or the Game Management System. The better quality information captured on GMS will be part of the calculation for the number of International Tickets that the club is awarded.
Sponsorship 2021
The Bees obviously rely on the generous support of Sponsors to keep going every season. The Committee will be trying to increase Sponsorship in the coming months and will be producing a brochure of Sponsorship packages available which will be published on The Bees website very soon. Please watch out on the Club website or subsequent issues of this Newsletter for further updates.
In the meantime, tell your friends!