Grassroots Rugby in Queensland is set to return this weekend for the first time since March, with the Townsville competition kicking off this Saturday, 11 July.
Mike Carney Toyota Park will tomorrow play host to senior men’s and women’s games, gates opening at 11:10am, with matches running through until the evening.
Townsville & District Rugby Union’s Director of Rugby Terry Shiells said: “Senior Rugby is back this weekend and all the players are excited.
“From a committee point of view, it’s been a challenge to get to this point, but everyone is ready and raring to go.
“It has been good-and-bad with regards to our clubs and how they’ve managed their way through the pandemic. Charters Towers as one of our regional clubs will only field a team in C-Grade as a lot of their players have had to take on other jobs during this time.
“On the other hand, our Women’s competition has grown. With some other sports not recommencing their seasons in Townsville, we’ve seen some clubs welcome new players and Brothers and Burdekin will be two new additions to the competition.
“We should recognise the work of Gaven Head and his Community Rugby team at the QRU, with the direction they have been able to provide. Through the direction provided, that has allowed us to engage and involve our clubs here in Townsville while also being able to provide necessary direction.
“Community Sport is big business within Australia and we often get set a lot of rules without a lot of assistance. If you look at other sports here in in Townsville, there hasn’t been direction provided so they haven’t got up and running, whereas Gaven and his team QRU have been able to assist us back to this point.”
Townsville as a community has gone through a lot of hard ship in recent years, with floods and droughts impacting the wider community, but COVID has been a moving feast that has provided a different challenge for the Rugby community.
“I think the big thing is if you have a cyclone or a flood, you see a start and an end point,” said Shiells.
“With COVID it just happened, and we couldn’t see the end so trying to plan a way back to playing Rugby was hard. We couldn’t do contact for some time so that was a challenge to get players prepared for matches, but training in small groups has probably strengthened some of the mateships within our competition.
“Our volunteer base here in Townsville is huge and they’ve been crucial to Rugby’s return. The next few weeks will be a test but with all the communication and education that has gone in behind the scenes we’re confident they’ll be able to help host matches with appropriate COVID Safe practices in place, but we’ll continue to asses on an ongoing basis.”
Townsville will be the first of many grassroots Rugby competitions to recommence around the state, with Darling Downs’ Risdon Cup set to kick-off next weekend on 18 July, followed by Central Queensland, Far North Queensland and the Gold Coast on 25 July, while the Sunshine Coast and Queensland Premier Rugby competitions will kick off on 1st August.
With community Rugby returning around the state over the coming weeks, people who are on the hunt for a community sport to get involved in are encouraged to find their local club and try their hand at Rugby Union. You can find out more information on how to get involved by visiting our website – Qld.Rugby – or by contacting us via social media (Queensland Rugby Facebook) for more information.
There are all flexible registrations options for the remainder of the season which will ensure that Rugby is an affordable option for the Queensland community.
“The last few months has seen the Queensland Rugby community come together and work in a collaborative fashion that we haven’t seen before,” said QRU general manager of community Rugby Gaven Head.
“Our focus throughout the crises was ensuring that our clubs across the state remained financially stable and we’ve managed to work back to a point where we can return to play with everyone onboard.
“We’ve also worked closely with other sports in submissions to the State Government, which has ensured that Rugby has been at the forefront of policies and procedures that have allowed our clubs to successfully return to training over the last few weeks.
“Our Game Development team have also been active in the provision of training and up-skilling opportunities for our community throughout the isolation period and this is an ongoing process, with courses such as Smart Rugby, Mental Health Awareness sessions and Rugby Xplorer training amongst others, all being conducted via Zoom.
“While the pandemic has been devastating in many respects, there are some positives to draw from the experience with innovations in the way we engage and connect with our Rugby community that will allow us to better service our affiliates and stakeholders as we move forward.”
To keep up to date with developments in the community Rugby space, follow the Queensland Rugby Union on Facebook and Instagram.
