Whenever I have worked abroad people have always commented that the Brits are obsessed with the weather – well the last few months tell you why! The country has been pretty much flooded out for weeks and now we enter a period of snow and ice which is causing the usual disruption. I am really sorry that we have had to postpone the first of the Super Series but it was a ‘no-brainer’, we could not guarantee safe travel to and from the tournament and some teams and individuals were already pretty much holed up. I know that clubs and their coaches have worked hard to prepare their teams and this will be a massive disappointment but we will quickly work with the clubs to see when we can reschedule the weekend. Aside from the weather things continue to move forward. The shortlisted candidates for RDO South, North and Head Official positions will be interviewed on Monday and Tuesday next week so I hope to have some good news soon about who the new staff are. Monday is also the day that applications close for the Performance Director and Head Coach positions and we already have some very high quality applications. I spent yesterday with Graham Taylor Head of Coaching at UK Sport, where I was laying the foundations for an excellent support structure to provide the very best for our new coach and performance system. Next week also sees the start of Phase 2 of our Youth programme which is being delivered in partnership with Aspire. This is another exciting development and the next stage in our plan to provide young people across the country with the opportunity to play the game. It is the way of life that as young people start to play the game, others hang up their gloves and this week saw former GB Captain Mike Spence finally announce his retirement from playing for Pirates. I know he will still be around the club helping others to learn the game so I am sure he will still throw the odd ball around but we won’t be seeing him compete again. Mike is however continuing to provide a huge amount of knowledge and expertise as a Trustee and will be sitting on the panel to select the new Head Coach and the Performance Director where his insight will be invaluable. At the moment I understand he is building a snowman somewhere in Gloucestershire!
I am looking forward to seeing many of you at Southampton University on Thursday next week for the first of the sessions to discuss the 4 year plan for GBWR. That’s it for now – stay warm and have a good week.
David Pond
