We have just held our monthly Committee Meeting and we were really pleased to welcome Matt Reynolds back to the Committee following his injury. Matt is still in a wheelchair, but we all hope and pray that our great NHS will help him to make a full recovery over the next few months. At this point I think it is worth saying a big thank you to Justin Burgess, our Welfare Officer, who has been doing some fantastic work along with a number of other club members to support Matt as he recovers.
The Committee had a really good meeting, reflecting on what the club has achieved this year and starting to set the ground for next season – it is hard to believe that we have got to that point already. Maintenance of the pitches is well underway, and we have focused on the 1st team pitch this season having majored on the other pitches last year. The pitch has been seeded and aerated and we will be placing sand over the next few days. We will also be using a slow-release fertilizer to help the pitch recover from the very wet season. We have arranged for some more work on the guttering of the club which will take place over the summer.
We have agreed that the AGM will be held on the 15th June. Notices will go up in due course and if anyone is interested in joining the Committee maybe even taking one of the elected roles then please think about putting your name on the lists once they go up after the Dinner Dance. I have said many times that we should be very proud of this club and its volunteer ethos and the Committee is part of that.
We also took the opportunity to consider our current subs when compared with our neighbours. We have not raised subs for a few years now and so the AGM will include notice of an increase for the majority of membership categories. The increases that we are considering will still make us one of the cheapest clubs in the area but, I hope you all agree, one of the best to be a member of.
Karen Afford has kindly helped us find an organization that is prepared to do a regular but infrequent deep clean of the kitchen – most cleaning companies are wanting a monthly arrangement but we do not use our kitchen often enough to justify that so we are targeting a deep clean twice a year. The first of these will be undertaken just before the Dinner Dance on 11th May.
Speaking of events at the club, JOCA will be holding their traditional JocaFest on 22nd June so hopefully many of you will support that. They are looking for volunteers to help on the day so if you can spare a bit of time on that day please contact Chris Bowden cbowden127@googlemail.com and discuss how you can help.
It has been quite a quiet end to the season with our men’s and women’s first teams both having wins and losses but ending up 6th in their respective leagues. The last 2nd team game has been cancelled by the opposition and so they also will be 6th in their league although not all games have been played. We have a senior “Vets” Tour off to Marbella the weekend after the Dinner Dance and hopefully they will all manage to get back in one piece.
Minis and Juniors are also reaching the end of their season and the John Gray Cup was another well attended and successful event Datchworth winning the overall event. There are a few games left, with final training sessions for the season on 5th May with the Girls finishing with their Worthing Tour. They will be having a presentation event on the 12th May, the morning after the Dinner Dance, making use of the marquee.
And finally, there are at least two more senior men’s games to make you aware of. This Saturday the team are playing in the Papa Johns Cup away against Twickenham (who I believe won the event last year) and then on 4th May we are playing Cheshunt in the County Tankard Final at St Albans. Clearly if we beat Twickenham then there will be at least one more Papa Johns Cup game to play and I understand that the date for the Tankard final is still provisional.
Please do put the AGM date in your diary and come and support the club’s committee. It is likely to start at about 4pm.
I look forward to seeing those of you who are attending at the Dinner Dance.

Mark Kemp
Chairman
Welwyn RFC