Over 150 of the Barnes RFC family got their Zoom on as we chatted over a diverse range of rugby topics including the future of grassroots, national and international rugby, a date to get back playing, black lives matter, our new mental wellness initiative - the Barnes RFC Mental Mission and a reflection back on the Big Lift. It was brilliant to listen to the diversity of views and a huge thank you to all of the panellists and guests for taking part.

It is brilliant how Barnes RFC have evolved, and fully embraced the changes that the pandemic have forced, we are emerging as a very modern, diverse, and empowered rugby club that will attract new players, supporters and sponsors alike. It is a very exciting time to be part of #OneClub #OneBarnow

Alas Durders, Mark Durden - Smith, broadcasting legend and raconteur, who should have been on the panel, was under the surgeon's knife when we were zooming together, and we wish him and his patella a speedy recovery.

If you would like to listen to the recording please email me: rhino2000magw@gmail.com

Last day of hot food at Queen Mary’s

1st July is the last day that Zoe and Abi will be providing hot food at Queen Mary’s for the resident front line staff. As we begin to unravel the lockdown, and things are beginning to try and return to normal in London, we will make the delivery of the final 50 lunches. It has been brilliant to be part of it and a massive thank you again to Zoe, Abi and other assorted family members for making this happen.

Brilliant Barnes RFC at its best again!

Rugby training is underway at Barnes.

Last week saw the Minis and Juniors kick off training in a socially distanced way, under the watchful eyes of Jack Heald and his team of coaches.

Jack is incredibly excited: “It has been fantastic seeing young players of Barnes Juniors start some training the last few weeks who have been working in small groups of 5 with 1 coach.
The confinement’s of social distancing has meant some challenges have come with planning the sessions, however, a large amount of skill development has taken place focusing around developing players passing & offloading skills, along with some good hard conditioning and speed work. These sessions have been very well supported by U16, U14 & U12 age groups in particular, with 40 players each evening, it’s sure been a positive step back to getting rugby back into our Barnes community!”
And this Saturday, the big guns of the Men and Women get to strut their training stuff back at Barn Elms, can you feel the hairs on the back of your neck as we start the climb back to playing? I most certainly can!

The road back to playing league rugby for Barnow…

Last week the RFU published their potential structure for a return to league rugby, which we were eagerly waiting. There are three potential “windows”, and whilst none have an actual date attaching, I am guessing they would be a November 2020, December 2020 or January 2021 start.

This is how it will all work (apparently):
If rugby starts in Window 1: Local competitions first, home and away competitions last:

· Teams play home and away in their group - in a 14-team league separated into two groups of seven, teams play 12 fixtures.
· Upon completion of these 12 fixtures, teams play home and away against teams in the other group, meaning teams play a further 14 fixtures (26 fixtures in total).
· The league winner will be the team with the best playing record from all league fixtures.
· NCA teams ONLY - a full regular season of home and away fixtures will be delivered.

If rugby starts in Window 2: Local competitions first, home or away fixtures last:

· Teams play home and away in their group - in a 14-team league separated into two groups of seven, teams play 12 fixtures.
· Upon completion of these 12 fixtures teams will play home OR away against teams in the other group, meaning team play a further 7 fixtures (19 fixtures in total).
· The league winner will be the team with the best playing record from fixtures played in both groups.
· NCA teams ONLY – a full round of home or away fixtures will be delivered (15 fixtures). At this point the league will be separated into two groups of 8. Teams in the top 8 league positions go into one group and the next 8 teams go into another group. From here, teams play each other home OR away in their group, thus a further 7 fixtures (22 fixtures in total).

If rugby starts in Window 3: Local competitions only, a final playoff:

· Teams play home and away in their group - in a 14-team league separated into two groups of 7, teams play 12 fixtures.
· There will be a playoff game between the group winners to determine the league winner.
· NCA teams ONLY - a full round of home or away fixtures will be delivered (15 fixtures) – the league winner would be decided by the results of these fixtures.

All we need now are the dates so we can get cracking!

Barnes Ladies Clubs Events - Work Out with the women of Barnes - Weds 8th July

The Women are not only gearing up for a return to rugby, but they are also galvanising the other women of sports clubs in Barnes too.
Back in May Barnes RFC women reached out to other women’s sports teams in the local Barnes community: Barnes Bridge Ladies Rowing team, Barnes Netball team and Barnes Ladies Hockey team.

The aim was to join forces, and use each other’s resources to create new bonds in the Barnes community, encouraging more local women into the diverse range of locally available sport.

This friendship new has gone from strength to strength, with new ideas for recruitment and community matters high on the agenda.

The initial idea was sparked by Barnes RFC Women, and by collaborating with the other Barnes Women’s and Ladies teams we are hosting a virtual Zoom workout, called: “Work Out With The Women of Barnes”.

On Wednesday 8th of July we will hold a 45 minute Zoom fitness session, all of the Barnes Women’s sports clubs will take part, and any woman living in the Barnes community will be able to join too.

If you know anyone who might want to join us please send Rachel Navikow your details and she will send out an invite.

By doing this we want to empower all women in the Barnes community and showcase all of our local women’s sports clubs.

With this first session, we want to not only empower the women in our community to get involved, but we also want to showcase the amazing women’s sports clubs that people can join in Barnes.

This is how you can join the session on Zoom:
• Meeting ID 830 474 1401
• Password: Barnes

That’s all folks!

Have a great Barnow week..

Michael “Rhino” Whitfield - Chairman Barnes RFC