Hopefully by now these updates have become a familiar part of your Newark rugby calendar — and that you enjoy both receiving them and the content within?

Six weeks have passed since the 2025/26 season drew to a close, but as anyone involved in rugby club life will know, the work never stops.

One of the highlights of recent weeks has been the progress on Pitch 2. The work undertaken has been truly brilliant, and the investment made will deliver a significantly improved playing surface over the coming seasons. It’s exactly the kind of project that makes a real difference to our players and to the club’s long-term future.

Looking Ahead — What’s Coming Up

Right now, our focus is firmly on two things. First, please make a note in your diary: our AGM takes place on Monday 13th July — your attendance really does matter, so please come along if you possibly can.

Second, pre-season is almost upon us. Our Senior Men begin training on Tuesday 30th June, and our Women’s section return the following week — with the exciting addition of newly appointed Head Coach Shaun Turl, who brings with him a hugely impressive CV. It’s a brilliant appointment and we look forward to seeing his experience add greatly to the group.

On the Men’s side, Adam and James will continue to coach our Men’s teams, with Chris and Dan Coen taking charge of our Colts. Last season we were delighted to see some real talent step up into the senior ranks — and I have every confidence we’ll see more of the same this year.

Touch Rugby — A Brilliant Community Success

A huge thank you must go to Tom Mapp for his outstanding organisation of our Wednesday evening Touch Rugby sessions. To see over 100 people attending each week — boys and girls alike — is simply amazing. Tom has done a wonderful job in building something genuinely special, and it’s a real credit to him and to all who turn up week after week.

The Season Ahead — Exciting Plans

Next month’s update will bring more details on our sponsorship opportunities for the coming season, which will include individual player packages across both our Men’s and Women’s squads — more on that very soon.

We’re also thinking bigger when it comes to our events calendar. We would love to add a Sevens and Tens tournament, alongside a youth and women’s festival — complete with live music, camping and refreshments. Events like these can genuinely turbo-charge our club’s income and help us maintain and improve our facilities for everyone.

To make it happen, we’ll need to grow our volunteer team. If you’re able to give a little time, please do get in touch — every pair of hands makes a difference.

Here’s something that may surprise you: did you know that we spend £20,000 a year simply marking out pitches and preparing for events such as our Mini Festival? That figure alone should explain why we are always looking to think outside the box and push ourselves to do things better. Every pound we raise through events goes straight back into the club.

Finally…

I’ll remind you that our 250 Club Lottery continues throughout the summer. More members are always warmly welcomed, so please do spread the word.

Until next time — thank you for your continued support of Newark RUFC.

Yours in Rugby,

David Godfrey
Chairman
Newark Rugby Club.