National recognition for Crediton Rugby Club
THE outgoing chairman of Crediton Rugby Football Club, Roger Holloway, admitted he had to pinch himself in amazement after Crediton RFC walked away with a top prize at the inaugural National Rugby Awards at Twickenham last week.
England will be hosting Fiji at Rugby HQ on Friday September 18, but Roger got a sneak peak at the famous venue last Wednesday night at the first ever Lawson Keys National Rugby Awards.
With the support of England captain Chris Robshaw, the awards celebrate the great and the good of the sport’s grassroots heroes, acknowledging the dedication and commitment to rugby by thousands of clubs and individuals across the country.
Rogerwas there due to Crediton’s nomination for the Marriott Community Team of the Year award, and after beating six other clubs to the prize the chairman was grinning from ear-to-ear.
“It’s very, very flattering,” Roger said. “I’ve been chairman of Crediton Rugby Club for five years and this is the pinnacle of my time as chairman.
“We have come through really good times, we run plenty of sides, we are grateful to the RFU for their input to us and we have won plenty of awards for them.
“We are very grateful from the coaching input from the RFU coaches locally and we are buzzing, we are doing really, really well.
“We are running three senior sides every week and veteran ties from time-to-time and 14 other sides in the rugby club.
“Crediton town is very decked out at the moment by lots of paraphernalia regarding the Rugby World Cup and we have a very energetic committee who are putting on lots of functions for us and everything is looking fine, we are really looking forward to the Rugby World Cup.
“In terms of what it means to pick up an award on behalf of your club, all the unsung heroes, how great is that to have it recognised nationally, it’s nice that groundroots rugby has been recognised.”
Crediton were also shortlisted in the Club of the Year category but were beaten to that award by Bishop’s Stortford.
Roger Holloway, however, believes the future at Crediton looks just as rewarding.
“Winning the Devon and Cornwall Championships last season, to see that Credition has provided lots of senior rugby players in the Premiership has all been great,” he added.
“Through our Colts we’ve seen the captain of Bath, the captain of Exeter and we have been a good feeder club for lots of Premiership clubs and hopefully that continues.”
Lawson Keys sponsor the 2015 National Rugby Awards. Follow the Awards in The Rugby Paper www.therugbypaper.co.uk .
‘JUST LIKE THE
OSCARS’
Roger said that the presentation evening as “just like the Oscars”.
He added: “There were 850 people in the room and the golden envelope was opened and Crediton RFC announced as the winner.”
The incoming chairman at Crediton RFC, Colin McKenzie, said praise was due to all those involved with the club, from parents to players, volunteers to coaches.
“We are genuinely a community club and while we have outgrown the facilities here and are looking to develop at a new location, we have refurbished some of the facilities to make them more accommodating for functions and private hire.
“We are a small club but we punch above our weight and we are a friendly club.
“People do a lot of things for this club without asking, they just get on and do it and we are incredibly grateful.
“We are chuffed to bits with this award, it is outstanding for us and is the result of a lot of hard work.”
Alan Quick