GB has got off to a positive start in the European Championships by defeating Austria 59-39, the Czech Republic 64-33 and Germany 44-39. Still to play in their group is Finland at 0900 UK time and Belgium at 1430 UK time both tomorrow. Belgium is also chalking up some strong results so that promises to be an exciting game to watch. It’s great to see how the new players are blending in with those who remain from 2012 and in particular Ayaz Bhutta is looking very strong and working well. Early days yet but a nice position to be in at the end of Day 3 for us.
On Sunday night I was representing GB at the European Zonal Assembly where there were some interesting presentations particularly around classification, the IWRF Strategic Plan and proposals to change the international competition structure and to adopt a points based system to determine world rankings. All of these proposals are now out for consultation and in GB we will be using our International Committee to help shape our response as well as present the proposals to the DMG for feedback. The Assembly also held its elections and from GB John Timms was re-elected to head up Competitions and Sarah Leighton to head up Classification – both important areas. The IWRF is still looking for athletes to sit on the Athletes Council which is chaired by Ross Morrison. This is an important group because it seeks to get the direct voice of athletes so that athletes can influence the future direction of the sport. So if you are interested then drop me, Ross, or Richard Allcroft, our IWRF Board Member an email and we can discuss.
Back to the Europeans – all games being streamed live on the IWRF website www.iwrf.com or at www.ecwcrugby2013.be
David Pond
