On Saturday, we were incredibly proud to accept the Yorkshire Presidential Award in recognition of our efforts to grow and sustain rugby union across Yorkshire.

Accepting the award on behalf of the club from current Yorkshire President Jim McRobert was our Club President, Roger Smith.

Over the past seven years, since reintroducing a dedicated role focused on engaging with schools, we have seen sustained growth on average of over 30% across our age-grade teams. However, this award is about much more than simply bringing people through the door. It recognises every volunteer who makes our sessions fun, engaging and welcoming, while helping young people develop skills and values that extend far beyond the rugby field. These are the people who make rugby a place where players want to stay, grow and belong.

Growing Across the Club

Our growth hasn't been limited to age-grade rugby. We've also seen a significant increase in participation across our senior section, with our 4th XV and veterans' rugby gradually being reintroduced over the past couple of seasons. While the start of this season has presented challenges for all our senior sides, playing numbers remain strong. Hopefully, over the next week or two, we can start turning that commitment into some performances to be proud of!

Our Girls' Rugby Pathway – The North Yorkshire Girls Rugby Hub

One of our biggest recent success stories has been the development of our girls' pathway, which we have proudly dubbed the "North Yorkshire Girls Rugby Hub."

Just over 18 months ago, our girls' section was growing steadily, with clustering arrangements helping us provide opportunities for players. However, following a frank conversation after a defeat against Stockton U12s Girls, we recognised that we wanted more. We wanted to build teams that could represent Malton in their own right, without the need to cluster with other clubs.

Fast-forward to today, and through a targeted recruitment drive, plenty of hard work and a fantastic sense of togetherness, we now have nearly 60 girls regularly training across our teams.

We're getting closer to becoming a truly self-sustaining section. With another six months of hard graft, we hope to see the next stage of growth: where our girls have the confidence to bring not just one friend along, but a whole group of friends!

Our club subscriptions reflect our commitment to making rugby accessible to everyone:

Primary school age: £75 per year, Secondary school age: £100 per year

We believe these fees make us one of the most affordable community rugby clubs in Ryedale, if not North Yorkshire.

Building the Future of Senior Rugby

Another key area of focus is the transition from age-grade to senior rugby, for both male and female players. A useful benchmark suggests that, on average, sustaining one senior team requires approximately 2.3 players to progress from age-grade rugby each year. Our ambition is to have four senior mens teams regularly taking to the field every week.

You can do the maths!

To support this ambition, we're aiming to see more than 10 or more age-grade male players progress into our senior rugby environment each season, building a strong and sustainable future for the club.

We're also investing in dedicated coaching to support this transition. My role now includes the fixed coaching role within the club focusing on the Colts but overseeing 14-18 ages, while our U16 and U18 girls benefit from the coaching of Pippa H a former Wasp before the PWR and winner of the 2016 Roger Sherratt Memorial Trophy during her service in the Royal Navy.

A huge thank you to Jim McRobert for joining us on Saturday, taking the time to listen and engaging with us in conversations about how and why we're striving to be the best community-based amateur rugby club we can be.

This award belongs to everyone who contributes to Malton & Norton Rugby Club: our players, coaches, volunteers, parents, supporters and everyone who helps make our club what it is.

We're proud of how far we've come, but we're even more excited about what's ahead.

Keep your eyes peeled for some major announcements about our ambitions, both on and off the field. The future is ours and its bloody exciting!

Com'n The Malt!