Author Archives: Paul Clarke

Academy kicks off preseason programme

The Academy kicks off its preseason playing programme on Friday night at Vallis Way.

Ruislip RFC will be our opposition under the lights in what should be an tough start for the boys. Playing in London 1 North and having trained against each other last season, it will be hard to spring any surprises on the visitors.

The Academy will field a young side, our partner clubs are in full swing now so there may be a shortage of experience in the squad. However, there will be no lack of endeavour and ambition.

Academy Director John Lacey said “The boys are looking forward to getting on the pitch, we’ve trained really hard through what feels like a long summer.

We’ve added some very good players to the squad for this season and it is exciting to see how things gel. It’s always a challenge with the loan boys being away, but we make those decisions knowingly and have to accept that the instability it causes will ultimately improve all the players involved.

Places for our game against the Army are up for grabs. The players on Friday have an opportunity to stake their claim for inclusion. Its also a chance to measure the newer players against Level 6 opposition, as well as seeing our U18 lads in that environment too.”

Kick off is at 19:30, so please try to find time to come along and get behind the boys.

Ealing Minis Festival 2018

The Ealing Minis Festival 2018 will take place on Saturday 17th November and Sunday 18th November.

Age groups will be split over the two days with U7, U9 and U11 on the Saturday and U8, U10 on the Sunday. Play will start at 9.30am and we aim to finish play by 1.30pm.

Invitations and registration documents will be sent out in the coming days.

We hope you are able to join us and plan to make it a great day of enjoyable rugby!

John Sheffer

Minis Chairman

Minis Fixtures 2019-20

The season has already started on Sunday 6th Sept at 12pm. Please come down and see what a fantastic opportunity and privilege it is to play for one of England’s best known clubs, Ealing Trailfinders RFC. We are a local friendly club steep in rugby history which your children will love!    
 
 
Dates to Note
 
Home training starts each Sunday at 12pm (be there for 11:45 to get ready) unless otherwise stated. Other dates of interest will be posted here in due course. 
 
Helping us build
 
This season we are being assisted with our coaching by both the Ealing Trailfinders Community Coaches, and 1st XV players, as well as some of our aspiring youth players. Coaching assistance will be on a rotational basis with the community coaches starting the season with the under 9 age group as they transition into contact rugby. The youth coaches will start with the under 6, 7 and 8 age groups.
 
Thank you in advance to all those helping our minis and helping build Ealing Trailfinders RFC. It promises to be a fantastic season ahead. 
 
 

RFU IPF Veterans Rugby Day (Twickenham)

What a day! How can this reporter/manager/general dogsbody attempt to portray the atmosphere, the excitement and, as Jake reminded us, the potential loose bowels as we huddled before the big game. The game that might define us as a player, a team & a club.

Having taken “Of port!” in the official away changing room with a rousing reminder of why we were there, we focused on the match we had before us…our own grand-slam decider on the hallowed cabbage patch turf.

The game started well for the opposition with staunch defence required time and time again in our 22 from the likes of Cotter, Miller (x2 of them, only one is Courtney Lawes’s Dad though) and Usher putting in big hits to keep the ball available for Beck clearances. Mentioned in dispatches must be Big Tel who provided two massive wrap tackles to augment his line speed and show his defensive skills have not diminished despite his rising tally of years.

After a quick tap penalty for a ruck offense H&F managed to squeeze over in the right hand corner for a Tom Parkinson unconverted try to gain a slim advantage, extended to a 10-0 lead by further quick passing from set play leading to an overlap out wide. Sadly half time was longer than expected after Olly Mayo broke his ankle requiring significant attention, before he was taken to hospital; an ironic reminder why we were fund raising. We wish you a speedy recovery mate; looking forward to having Room 408 fully quorate again.

However, back to the report:  the best play of the day was undoubtedly Ealing’s try as Jacko cut back inside from a scrum marshaled to perfection by the standout scrum half of the day Stoksey. He was able to break three tackles and score a converted try under the posts to draw us within three points of their hosts. Sadly we could not capitalise on that boost in performance to finish the game off but what an afternoon we had on the Twickenham turf. 

Those over 45 also got a run in the Barbarians match later in the day against H&F over 45’s. The backbone of their 19-5 victory was provided by turnover jackal-like steals from BOF, tries from Beck and Steenie with the latter proving that he actually can run half the length of the pitch to score as long as it is a Twickenham & the pursuers are near retirement! 

Finally we would like to take this opportunity to thank all the staff at Twickenham, plus H&F/Silhillians/Wimbledon RFCs for a terrific day at the home of rugby. The Injured Players Fund is clearly one that is close to our hearts with Ben Pearson attending on crutches and already benefiting from IPF help. The day has generate over £100,000 for those that deserve to benefit…cheers lads and to all who supported us!

RFU IPF Veterans Rugby Day

On Saturday 9th June Ealing Evergreens are one of four teams participating in the RFU IPF Veterans Rugby Day at Twickenham.

Jason Leonard says “It is fantastic to see the clubs represented here today, coming together in support of such a worthy cause in the RFU Injured Players Foundation, and to celebrate Vets Rugby. With all four clubs having experienced a catastrophic rugby injury in recent years, this event and such strong support from all involved, is testament to the rugby family ethos that is such a big part of what makes rugby unique.”

All about the RFU IPF HERE.

Paul Clarke says “October 1967 saw the first mention in club records of an “Evergreens XV” – a name coined for a party that toured Germany in September. After the tour, they described themselves in this way: Number of Evergreens – 16. Average age – 35. Youngest prop forward – 57. Games played – 2. Games lost – 2. Points for – 3. Points against – 58 (unconfirmed). This humble beginning established Ealing Evergreens and the squad continues to thrive to this day.

After a season which ended with the team topping the Middlesex Veterans league and winning the league playoff final, the players closed their season (or so they thought) with the Memorial  Game played against Ealing Exiles. This game was established in 2008 in memory of a player who died tragically in a non-rugby accident and has been played annually since this time in remembrance of other players and members who have died during this period. 

The Evergreens are honoured to be invited to participate in the RFU IPF Veterans Rugby Day and this is a very apt way to finally close this season, especially as one of our young players, Ben Pearson, suffered very serious injuries whilst playing for the club in April of this year.

This event gives us a splendid opportunity to help support a charity dedicated to supporting and protecting the rugby family.

If you would like to contribute to this special charity then visit HERE or sponsor an individual player HERE.

Academy looking to add to coaching team

The Academy are looking to recruit new volunteer coaches to help drive the development of players within our Emerging Player Group, Academy U18 and Senior Academy.

Academy Director John Lacey said “This season has seen higher player participation at County, Divisional and International level than ever before. We have also exposed the boys to more high level opposition at younger ages. Rather than repeat the process that has produced these improvements we want to add new influences to what we do.

We have a great group of players in place with over 30 new players expressing interest in our trials next month.

We have to keep looking to push the boundaries to improve what we deliver. Standing still doesn’t actually exist, it really means moving backwards.

We are looking for people who want to work to a higher level of expectation, who want to innovate and want to be challenged”.

If you are interested in joining a dedicated coaching and management team, to work with a group of players whose ambitions mirror yours, please get in touch!!

Academy Trial date released

Are you an ambitious young rugby player, prepared to work hard to achieve your goals?

We may be able to help.

Academy half backs gain International recognition

We are very proud to announce that two Academy players have received International recognition on the same day.

Academy fly half Ewan Starling was the first to hear he had been selected for England Counties U20 to tour Georgia next week. Ewan is a recent addition to the Senior Academy Squad, he has played in our 2 recent games against London Welsh Griffins and London Scottish.

Second up was scrum half Josh Steadman who has been selected to represent England Students 7s this summer. Josh has been with club through both Mini and Youth Sections. He has come through the Emerging Player Group at the Academy and is a great advert for our programme.

Academy Director John Lacey said ” I am really pleased that both lads have gained recognition for their hard work. Ewan is a new face at the club but has shown in the short time he has been with us that he has some real potential.

Josh is probably our most consistent player over the last 4 years. He scored against the UK Armed Forces U23 as an U17 and hasn’t looked back. Teams underestimate him at their peril.

It’s been a great year for the Academy and I’m glad that we have been able to help these two achieve some of their season goals”.

Keep an eye on here as well as our Twitter feed @ETFacademy and our Instagram account ealingtrailfindersacademy for regular updates.

Academy launches returning students project

Ealing Trailfinders Academy are excited to announce the launch of a returning students project for next season.

With the aim of increasing player retention and engagement among ex Academy members, the project will look to provide game opportunities for players studying at college or university. The scheme will look to reunite former team mates in a vibrant and fun environment.

Academy Director John Lacey said “It is widely documented that the drop off in playing numbers among 18-24 year olds is huge. We have reviewed our database for the last 3 years of players leaving our Junior Academy. The loss of connection is startling.

We are aiming to reconnect with the lads and offer them a chance to renew friendships and we hope that off the back of it, we increase the retention rates through to our amateur sides at Ealing Trailfinders.

As we have grown as a Senior Academy we are less able to offer places for lads going on to higher and further education, we have in the past offered distance membership to talented players. That is becoming more difficult. This scheme will hopefully help bridge the gap to adult club rugby.

Two former Academy U18 jumped at the chance to take part in the Championship U20 Tens last month and that nudged us to look to explore the opportunity to do more”.

We are looking to arrange 3 games initially, in September, at Christmas and another at Easter.

If you are a former member of the Academy and are studying at college or university, near or far, check your WhatsApp for an invite. If you’ve changed number please contact John or Annie for more details.