Heath RFC returns to rugby with ambitions on and off the pitch

Starting on Tuesday 7 July at 7pm, the senior coaching team of Ross Chisholm, James Taylor and Martin McTaggart will be holding Skills and Conditioning training for the senior squad in groups of six with no face-to-face contact and increased cleaning and distancing protocols as defined in new Club documents published on their website.

All participants will have to complete a health questionnaire before each session to check their potential personal exposure to Covid-19. The Club has been working on improving the pitch conditions at Whitemans Green over the last couple of weeks and distancing grids have been marked out to make sure there is no confusion over the limits of the training areas. Players must bring their own drinks and refreshments and the Clubhouse can only be used for toilet facilities one player at a time.

Commenting on the plans Heath 1st XV lead Coach Ross Chisholm comments “We know everything is going to be very different for the squad but the key thing is to be able to get out and train - we will be monitoring progress before extending the new protocol to other age groups at the Club and rely on the common sense of all those taking part to follow the guidelines and help make sure that competitive rugby returns as soon as possible.

He continued: “The boys are really keen to get back training and pick up where they left off last season. It is very encouraging to see the real buzz around the whole senior squad via social media as they look forward to getting together as a group, albeit in these extraordinary and different circumstances. We will be focusing on having fun using basic rugby skills, fitness and conditioning to make sure we are ready to compete in London 1 next season.”

Heath has announced that for season 2020/21 1st XV captaincy will remain with Sam Drage, with Gareth Fergusson as Vice-Captain and the 2nd XV will be captained once again by Chris Neill.

All have been tremendous leaders for the Club and the continuity will allow ongoing input from the players to the coaching group as the regulatory framework develops and the Club is able to follow the Roadmap back to full contact rugby and eventually competition on the pitch - something that currently is not expected to happen until the autumn, taking lessons from the Premiership which is planning to restart its 2019/20 season on 15 August.

Heath featured in this month’s Rugby World magazine as winners of London & South East 2, gaining promotion to London 1 South and the Club is keen to attract new players of all ages and abilities to come and join the restart of rugby next week and find their personal “new normal” rugby home at Heath - to find out more and talk about your personal rugby goals with the coaching team email [email protected] .

Off the pitch the Club continues to push towards building a new Clubhouse at Whitemans Green - something even more important to the local community given the health and fitness concerns raised by Covid-19 and lockdown in general. It is hoped the latest donation of £50,000 from Adelphi – a leading engineering manufacturing company located in Haywards Heath, joining previous generous contributions from Kalimex and Pets Corner, two other local businesses choosing to act positively regarding their corporate social responsibility in Mid Sussex – will encourage other businesses, with a vision of maintaining a healthy local community and attracting employees to the area by way of a first class multi-sports facility, to step forward and help make sure this ambitious project in collaboration with the Club’s main sponsor Fairfax can start in the near future.

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