Rugby Union clubs across the country are being urged to bang the drum for individuals in their ranks who have come up with ingenious, imaginative projects that have helped drive their club and the game forward in the last 12 months.
The RFU President’s XV awards not only recognise outstanding examples of people thinking outside the box and then bringing their ideas to fruition, but also ensure that these exceptional examples of good practice are put into the public domain for other clubs to replicate.
“The brilliant ideas and schemes that organisations come up never cease to amaze me.” says RFU President John Owen: “Entries for this competition have previously underlined not only the quality of the work being done, but also the extraordinary level of creativity and imagination which is being applied.
“The President’s XV Awards give organisations the opportunity to showcase their good ideas, earn recognition for them and, more importantly, help deliver those benefits to a wider audience.
“With three weeks left before the deadline for nominations expires on February 2, there’s still plenty of time for the people and their ideas to achieve the recognition they deserve. Maybe the recent bad weather will have spawned more smart thinking to combat the problem. Or perhaps the lull in activity will give people time to reflect on how clever some of their members have been during the year and to make sure they get their moment in the spotlight.
“This is one area where modesty is not what we are looking for. We want to salute clever people and the clubs who back them.”
Ability on the pitch does not govern who will win the 15 categories for which the £10,500 in prize money will be awarded – clever ideas, big or small from any quarter, which promote and support the game will be recognised and celebrated. With £500 prize money for the 15 winners and £100 for each of the 30 runners up, there plenty of added incentive to get in touch with the President’s XV Panel, who are keen to hear about the myriad projects that continue to develop the game at grassroots level.
Deadline for nominations: February 2, 2010