The role of the Hertfordshire Rugby Football Union is to support the development and growth of member clubs and grow the game in communities around them through effective leadership, governance and administration.
The Rugby Football Union, as the name suggests, is a union of its member Rugby Clubs plus the Universities, Schools and Forces. The 37 Constituent Bodies (CB), which are mainly geographically based on the counties of England, have been set up to administer our game. The other 9 CB’s are the 3 Armed Forces, Oxford and Cambridge Universities, Schools, Students, Colleges and Referees.
All the full member clubs of the R.F.U in Hertfordshire are in the Hertfordshire Constituent Body. The CB’s Executive members consist of elected volunteers and their role is to Facilitate and Administer the game at a local level.
General Meetings
Monday 16th September 2024 at Welwyn R.F.C. at 7:30pm
Monday 16th December 2024 at Welwyn R.F.C. at 7:30pm
Monday 17th March 2025 at Welwyn R.F.C. at 7:30pm
Monday 16th June 2025 at Welwyn R.F.C. TBC
Behind the scenes a great deal of work goes on administering the game that is not seen by many people (players of all ages, genders, ethnicities and abilities, administrators, spectators, parents and families etc.) who are involved in their local rugby clubs. We work with our member clubs to understand, develop and deliver local CB initiatives that benefit our clubs. Some of these being:
Club Development
We work closely with the R.F.U on “rugby club projects” these range from providing grants for some pitch maintenance to being involved in securing grants from various sources in major clubhouse developments.
We are continually improving our clubs’ understanding of the role and value of their CB through forums such as the Club Chairman’s monthly Zoom call and our club’s forum meetings. These meeting are generally face to face or virtual, dependant upon the circumstances.
Our meeting structure is intended to improve communications between club and CB and encouraging our clubs to be more proactive in their work with us and vice versa. Our engagement here allows us to improve our planning and our delivery of required interventions.
The existing Club Accreditation process allows clubs to meet their statutory obligations (incorporated status) and provides friendly challenge and questions around internal club processes. Achieving accreditation gives clubs access to funding from a number of sources and markets the club as being managed in a safe and proper way. Our CB Executives are allocated clubs that they interact with and advise.
On behalf of our clubs we facilitate the Delivery of national programmes e.g. All Schools Initiative, NatWest ‘RugbyForce’ – The new structure and reorganisation at the RFU may result in changes to this area.
People Development
We are responsible for the recruitment, development and reward of the diverse community of volunteers who deliver initiatives within Hertfordshire rugby such as: -.
Player Development
We oversee all youth and mini rugby with the county, ensuring strict adherence to Age Grade Regulation 15 as set out by the R.F.U. All clubs must have in place safeguarding policies and all key volunteers with children and adults at risk must be subject to DBS checks and safe recruiting procedures.
In youth rugby, we work closely with Saracens R.F.C. on the Developing Player Pathway (DPP) aimed at identifying the most talented individuals and improving their skills. Hertfordshire Rugby Football Union also gives players the opportunity to develop their skills through Representative Rugby. In men’s rugby, as well as the Men’s Senior Team, the CB run a under 16s, under 17s, under 18s and under 20s side. These teams give players the chance to develop and possibly go on and play for England Counties. In the Women and Girls game, we run County under 15s and under 18s teams, as well as a senior team.
Coaches
We have overall responsibility for Coach Development at all levels and best practice in the training of players by offering a variety of courses and coaching opportunities for coaches at all levels. All mini and youth coaches have mandatory coaching requirements.
Referees
We cooperate closely with the Hertfordshire Society of Referees in their identification and development of referees, which includes a number of courses offered by them.
Administrators
We promote leadership and effective management in our clubs jointly with the R.F.U. by running leadership courses (an example of which is The Leadership Academy).
