Academy shall go to the ball (From Andover Advertiser)

Academy shall go to the ball

7:03pm Tuesday 19th May 2009

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Andover RFC Youth Academy's season ended in style as the annual charity ball was held at the Goodship Ground, raising more than £6,000 for the club. This was followed on Sunday by their presentation day, with Andy Gould from Simplyhealth, the club’s principal sponsor and Ian Price, head community coach from London Irish, helping youth chairman Dickie Staff perform the presentations. The Academy was also delighted to welcome Mike Glogg (president of Hampshire RFU), Tim Allen (director of rugby - Hampshire RFU), Sir George Young (Andover MP), Sue Shepherd (Andover Vision manager), Faye Marsh (Andover Sound) and Shaun Rule (executive chairman Andover RFC) as well as a number of squad sponsors to the event.

Each team had a coach’s player and most improved player and each of the 350 + players also received an engraved trophy as a memento of their successful season. Among the highlights was the presentation of awards to the players who had made Hampshire squads this season - a real achievement in a very competitive county. These included two girls - Amber Keenan and Jess Weymouth who have been very dedicated in their training despite not being able to play competitively at the club.

During Dickie Staff's initial welcoming introduction, he was delighted to announce the ongoing support of Simplyhealth as principal sponsor for the 2009/10 season and also a generous donation of funding by the company towards their ongoing refurbishment of the pitches which takes place now the season has officially finished. Dickie thanked both them and all the other local sponsors and sporting partners involved, whose financial help is crucial in maintaining the current excellent standards at the Goodship Ground.

The Academy Junior Clubman Award was presented to James Bacon, who has been a mainstay of the U16s and displayed real dedication to the both his team and the Academy during the past year. The Senior Clubman’s Award went to Andy Earle who has been involved for a number of years providing expert coaching as giving invaluable inspirational support to his own teams players.

Simplyhealth’s Andy Gould commented: “We are delighted to continue our support of Andover RFC's Youth Academy. The club plays a significant role in sport for youth in the area and it is fantastic to see the progress and achievements over the seasons.”

Dickie Staff said: “It's been another fantastic season and there have been some brilliant successes in competitive matches. It is also great to see such a large number of players coming into the lower age groups which stands the club in excellent stead for the future. With a number of our Colts now in the senior teams it equates to a whole new bright future for Andover RFC.

I look forward to welcoming old and new members for our first training session on Sunday September 5.”

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