Club Notes | The Growth Of Mix Ability Rugby In West Cork

At the end of last season Bantry Bay CCRO, Geraldine Hicks, was approached by the West Cork Jesters and asked if she would come on board as the club’s first ever CCRO.

Geraldine jumped at the opportunity as it was something she had not done before.

Speaking about the new role she said:

“When the opportunity came along I was glad to accept it as it was something I had not done before. I’m very lucky that I have been part of the West Cork Jesters community for the past number of years so this role felt like the next positive step to take.

“In our meetings the committee and I came up with a draft of what we hoped to achieve and a brief outline of the areas they wished me to focus on.”

What started as an idea has now organically turned into a community wide support system with the help of Ben from Co Action Rehabilitative Training West Cork, Sinead from the National Learning Network Bantry, Natalia from Co Action Bantry and Barry from 4Honor Academy.

Telling us more about the impact these local organisations have had Geraldine said:

“The club now run classes once a week for Co Action service users with attendance growing week on week.

“This is thanks to the wonderful Co Action facilitators and Barry from 4Honor Academy who has given the club the use of his gym free of charge. We genuinely could not do it without them.”

As well as encouraging people of different abilities to take up rugby, Hicks is also helping to build a new network of coaches. She went on to explain the route that they are taking and how they are encouraging other clubs around the province to consider taking the same approach.

“The past number of weeks three students from Co Action Rehabilitative Training West Cork have been doing work experience with me to learn more about coaching within the community and as well as this we will also be running a coaching course in January for the all Rehabilitative Training students.

“Ben has been a brilliant help in getting this idea off the ground and ensuring his students have the time and environment to grow their rugby knowledge.

“The students in the National Learning Network Bantry have been so welcoming since September and eager to participate in all the sessions. It is great to see some students have begun training with the West Cork Jesters over the past number of weeks and Sinead and her team have ensured we have a place to train no matter the weather, providing both an indoor and outdoor area for us to us.

“I would encourage all CCRO’s and clubs to look to their areas to see if this is something they could implement in the near future as mixed ability rugby is growing but it needs a helping hand to become the best it can be.”

The West Cork Jesters hope to run a tag blitz in May and hope that teams from all over the province will participate on the day to create a fun festival of rugby.

A view of the work Banty Bay CCRO Geraldine Hicks is doing with the West Cork Jesters

A view of the work Banty Bay CCRO Geraldine Hicks is doing with the West Cork Jesters

A view of the work Banty Bay CCRO Geraldine Hicks is doing with the West Cork Jesters