Dear all,

 

The BRFC Annual General Meeting was held on Friday 29th of June. You will find hereafter a brief summary of the main points:

 

Sports

 

Head Coach Brendan McCann sent a message to those present at the AGM. The message summed up our season by saying that we live to fight another day in the Top 14 after performing The Great Escape! The true fighting spirit of the club was shown in the second half of the season, despite a difficult first half. However one of the lasting memories of the season was that in our last game when we needed a win to guarantee survival we only just managed to field 15 players… However on the positive side of things:

 

  • We have a fantastic pack of forwards now and can play our way out of most situations with them.
  • Our backs can gain metres and score tries from a long way out when needed
  • We have transitioned the club successfully with a load of new, dare I say young faces coming in and numbers looking strong.
  • When at full strength we can compete with anyone in the league.
  • Our defence is weaker than our attack and we will focus on this as a major coaching point next year.

 

All of these points will be addressed by the coaching team and passed on to the players at pre-season training which I will talk about later.

 

Social

 

Social participation has been better this year compared to others despite results not going our way and we are much closer as a team than in previous years. However, attendance at social events compared to the number of people in the club remains disappointing. The members who were presented voted unanimously in favour of continuing our partnership with The Bowler.

 

Finances

 

The accounts for the 2017/18 season were unanimously approved as was the provisional budget for the 2018/2019 season. Due to the exceptional financial performance of the club this year it was agreed to set aside 2000€ for the clubs 100 year anniversary in 2023. I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank our Treasurer Louis Corbic for his outstanding work this year.

 

Other Business

 

  • The idea of changing the design of the club tie was rejected by the Members present, however it is likely that we will investigate the possibilities of changing the playing kit over the course of the season.
  • Whilst the partnership that we established with Sarcelles Rugby Club started well, unfortunately over the course of the season we noticed that the quality of the relationship between the two clubs was not what we expected it to be and the facilities made available to us were not suitable. For next season, we hope to have 10 slots booked for us at the ASPTT ground in Pantin (subject to interference from the FFR). This decision was unanimously accepted.

 

End of Season Awards

 

Following an online vote the following awards were handed out:

 

  • Player of the Year – Joe Bough
  • Newcomer of the Year – Agustin Albornoz
  • Most Improved Player of the Year – Andres Pezuk
  • Clubman of the Year – Emmanuel Bouscasse

 

My congratulations to all players!

 

Committee Election

 

Following a unanimous vote, the following committee was elected for the 2018/19 season:

 

  • President – Richard Woolf
  • Vice President – Emmanuel Bouscasse
  • Treasurer – Louis Corbic
  • Social Secretary – Nick Sanders
  • Communications Manager – Pierre Bobet
  • Team Managers – Alessandro Donada & Luke Curtis

 

I would like to thank all those who were present for the positive exchanges regarding the upcoming season. On that note, please note the following key dates as the new season approaches:

 

  • 29th August – Pre-season training will officially begin at the BSP. However, please note that Brendan has asked me to send round a training program that you should complete in the mean time in order to arrive ready for pre-season. This program can be found in the attachments.
  • 8th September – First pre-season friendly (3 x 20 minutes) – Opponent TBC
  • 15th September – Team building/bootcamp/friendly weekend at La Cascade in Northern France (more details to follow)
  • 22nd September – Pre-season friendly vs. Big de Vincennes (recently promoted to D2)
  • 29th September – First league game – Opponent TBC (you will find attached the provisional calendar for match days, bearing in mind that this is subject to change)

 

I will send round another email before pre-season training starts but in the meantime please enjoy your time off and your holidays if you are lucky enough to be going away. I am looking forward to seeing you all in September for another season of mud, sweat and beers and a step closer to the 100th year anniversary of this great club!

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Richard Woolf

BRFC Club President