After the frustration of the weather and postponed Super Series things are getting back on track with lots of activity over the last 10 days. Watching Twitter it is obvious that all teams are training pretty hard at the moment and cannot wait to get under way with the first Super Series. On Friday evening Mike Kerr, Ross Morrison, Dave Anthony, Andrew Flatt and myself were guests of the Parliamentary Rugby Committee at the House of Commons, an event to raise funds for the British and Irish Lions charity. It was good to be included and another example of how our partnership with the able bodied game is strengthening. For me it also gave a great opportunity to talk to a number of people about sponsorship and also about the Rugby World Cup and our ambitions for the parallel Wheelchair Rugby tournament. There were a number of former Lions speaking and I was especially struck by their humility and their sense of comradeship. Gavin Hastings, certainly a hero of mine, was hugely inspirational and got me thinking that I must work to get him over to visit the Crushers in their new home. Last week our second youth programme started. This is a slightly different way of delivering the programme in that we are working in partnership with Aspire. Again we hope to get some good learning out of this as the next stage will be to confirm our national youth programme and start the first phase of rolling it out. On Monday and Tuesday, Archie Palmer, Kirsty Clarke and myself interviewed some excellent candidates for the Regional Development Officer and Head Official roles. There is one more interview panel in Cardiff on Friday for the Wales position and after that I hope to be able to announce who has got the jobs. These will be key in helping clubs and generating interest and support for the growth of the game in the different regions. For me the most exciting event this week will be the West Country Hawks first ever competitive event. If you are around on Saturday come over to the Life Centre in Plymouth for 3pm where there will be lots going on and where the Hawks will take on the Cardiff Pirates supported by some of the GB team. This is a great sign that we really are now starting to establish new clubs but more importantly getting new players into the game. We are also taking rugby to areas which have not seen it before. Prior to the Hawks if you lived in the far West you had to travel to Cardiff if you wanted to play the game. Over the next 4 year cycle we will be working hard to plug those gaps in the country and to try to bring the game much closer to everyone who wants to get involved.
David Pond
