President's Welcome 2018/19 6 of 14

6. Heath RUFC - 15th December


HAPPY BIRTHDAY SELBY RUFC!! I am reliably informed that Decemeber 11th 2018 marked the 85th Anniversary of the founding of our Club and what a proud History we have to relate through the years with remarkable achievements and successes both on and off the field. The reputation we have built in that time is a fantastic testament to the hundreds of volunteers and thousands of youngsters who have made the Club what it is today, a thriving, community Club which fully embraces the amateur ethos of Social Rugby and provides entertainment and enjoyment week in week out for the benefit of all of its members.

According to Wikipedia, the most noteworthy event on that day was the capture of Bolivia’s last two tanks by Paraguay in the Chaco War!! Pity the editor didn’t live in North Yorkshire! The Russian actor and Director Sergey Tarasov was apparently also born on the same day though little information about him is available either, so what better way to spend the day back then than founding a Rugby Club whose history will be long remembered (at least in Selby!)?

Today we welcome Heath for the first game of the second half of the League programme and last game before the Christmas break. We trust that their players and supporters have had an easy journey over from deepest West Yorkshire and wish them a pleasant afternoon at Sandhill Lane and send them our best wishes for Christmas and the New Year. Heath will be delighted with the way the first half of the season has gone, having driven themselves up into the second promotion spot in Yorkshire 1. Although they have not seen the margin of victories Moortown have put together, they have clearly found a way of grinding out a result, with 3 of their last 4 wins being by a margin of 7 points or less.
Most of our supporters would have looked at last Saturday’s result at Beverley with a degree of satisfaction and might not have realistically expected much more than the losing Bonus point that the lads fought for. However events on the field, with a scary neck injury to Captain Charlie Cicero (who I am pleased to report suffered no serious damage to his neck) and a couple of red cards mean that, once again our resources will be stretched to the limit. I do take great comfort from the fact that those players who are asked to step up to the first XV will give their absolute all to the cause, will certainly not let anybody down and will see today as an opportunity to put their case for regular first team rugby!

As always with Christmas approaching, there have been plenty of events to keep people busy and I would like to thank everybody who turned out for the President’s Charity Quiz on Friday 7th December. All proceeds from the evening will be split between MacMillan Nurses and Breast Cancer Awareness. With an extra donation of £100 collected at the recent Ladies Lunch, we will be in a position to make donations of almost £250 to each of the charities, a fantastic achievement to follow on from the Senior Players’ Movember efforts, which saw them raise a staggering £2000 for Prostate Cancer. The ever popular Muffits Lunch is scheduled for today and I look forward to welcoming a number of our more senior members to the Club for what always proves to be an excellent event. With the Christmas Lunch on Sunday 23rd and our annual Exiles Fixture on Boxing Day, the Club continues to be a great place to be around Christmas!!

In conclusion, I would like to offer a gentle reminder to everybody taking part in or spectating this afternoon’s game to please show respect to the match officials, players from both sides and other spectators. There is nothing better than a hard fought game of Rugby played out in front of a knowledgeable and friendly crowd and we all have to play our part in ensuring that everybody here this afternoon can go home afterwards having enjoyed some great entertainment, whether a player, flag man, referee, water boy, allickadoo or a member of the paying public. We have a duty to all visitors to Sandhill Lane to ensure that their afternoon is not ruined by the actions of one or two individuals and that everybody adheres to the RFU Code of Conduct, so I would ask that everybody makes sure that they behave in a manner befitting our great game.