The Chairman’s November 2020 Update
Dear All,
Another month has flown by!
We continue to be very busy hosting lots of training and conditioning. Well done everyone for keeping all the teams organized and motivated, even though we still do not have any inkling of a start date for competitive games. It’s a real challenge, especially for all the coaches to keep everyone engaged. Thank you for all your support and understanding, I for one am extremely impressed!
Our Under 18’s have hosted Longlevens for a ready4rugby match on Friday 16th October under lights, with post-match meals provided (maintaining the social distancing rules). It was a great night at the Club with Chris White assisting with the officiating.
The Under 16’s are hosting a similar fixture on the 30th of October. Although not ideal, this version of the game allows everyone to participate whilst maintaining skills and fitness for when we are hopeful of a start date soon after Christmas. During November the Women have a combined tournament with two other clubs and the men have a fixture planned as well with an intra-club event with men, women and the Under 18’s on the 24th November. So plenty being organised and should be a lot of fun.
Last Sunday, post-training hot dogs were provided for all players, as we try to keep some normality in the training regimes and the traditional rugby ethos of post-match food provided by the Club. Lots of smiling faces and it clearly went down well. Well done Nick Ralph and his helpers for organizing this.
We still need to be mindful of the Covid -19 regulations and current guidelines (which still seem to change almost daily), with many a different interpretation depending on who you speak to or which establishment you visit! However, so far everyone has been very understanding and helpful. This approach will need to continue as we head towards another “spike” please everyone be co-operative and as a club, we will ensure we provide a safe environment for all to continue training.
We have not been idle over recent months, following our traveller visit in the summer… We have invested in a big effort to improve our security arrangements. These include a further height restriction barrier adjacent to the car wash and the installation of a very good quality CCTV system which gives coverage of all areas of the club. As an added bonus, we have a camera facing the AGP which will stream live for all to view on our web site. This will enable all to get up to date views of games and training on the AGP.
Another recent improvement (just completed) is an upgrade of our WIFI. This will enable a far better service for our members and visitors and also enable a new Business Hub to be launched on the 1st November.
Thank you to all those that have already completed the Cheltenham Tiger’s Community Survey, please can everyone who has not yet completed it take the 5-7 minutes it takes to do so. This will enable us to have a full picture of what everyone likes and dislikes about our club, membership, facilities and activities, which will then allow a proper strategy of changes/ improvements to be implemented.
Talking Strategies, the Club has produced an update to our 5 year strategic Plan 2020-2025 signed off by the committee in May this year. Due to Covid-19, we have not been able to present this to the membership. However, if you would like a copy, please email clubhouse@cheltenhamtigers.com with your membership details and we will email you a copy. Many thanks to Guy and Laura Dixon for their time and assistance in formatting this document. It is impressive and ambitious that befits a club with our facilities and membership.
As part of the strategic plan, we are currently undertaking a coaching review of our senior teams (men and women) and our junior teams, 18’s, 17’s and 16’s and Girls. This is being carried out independently and will provide recommendations to enable continued improvements to be made.
So, although no rugby matches as we are used too is being played, there is plenty going on, that needs membership support, as we aim to be in the best possible position when competitive games do return.
If you are able to help in any way, please email clubhouse@cheltenhamtigers.com for further information.
Steve Ratcliffe, Club Chairman