Veterans/Golden Oldies/Old Boys Rugby

[rugbyskier]

I did a search and there doesn't appear to be a thread for over 35s rugby clubs. I thought that it may be useful for Veterans/Golden Oldies/Old boys clubs to have a single point to publicise carnivals and get together to arrange matches.

I'm the Fixtures Coordinator and Website/Communications Manager for the ACT Veterans Rugby club. Here's a bit of information about our club:

The ACT Veterans Rugby Union is the home of rugby for gentlemen over the age of 35 in the ACT and surrounding districts. The club was formed in 1995 and for the past 16 years we have been running around various rugby fields reliving our glory days, or just trying to catch and pass a rugby ball and make the occasional tackle, in the spirit of competitive but non-combative fun. We are not aligned with any particular senior rugby club in the ACT and have people from all clubs and all walks of life in our ranks.

We are pleased to be able to call Portsea Oval at RMC Duntroon our home (it is the best rugby pitch outside Canberra Stadium) and have an ongoing relationship with RMC and the cadets. We also have relationships with the various arms of the defence force and play these teams as part of our funding raising efforts. The club has raised over $100,000 in the past six years for a range of charities, including the George Gregan Foundation, Legacy, the Paediatrics unit at Canberra Hospital (PatCH), Snowy Hydro SouthCare and Clare Holland House.

Olims Hotel Ainslie is our watering hole post-match and where you will find us rehydrating after playing 3 x 20 minute halves of running rugby.

We have played seven matches so far this year, plus our annual carnival was on the last Saturday in March. Our next game is on Saturday against the Army Rugby Old Boys Association as a curtain raiser to the final of the Australian Services Rugby championships. We have another 12/13 matches scheduled for the year, including trips to Jindabyne and Tathra and possible trips to Bowral and Melbourne.

Feel free to add information about your club and upcoming events.

 

[grievous]

I dont understand why there is no vets comp in Sydney, Vic, SA, WA all have them, its a real young man's sport in Syd, even to lower grades in subbies

 

[120kg Winger]

Grievous, There's no veterans comp in Sydney because most vetrans are either still involved in their rugby club, their kids rugby or in some cases still playing regular club rugby. Add in the fact that it takes at least an hour to get anywhere in Sydney and to paraphrase so many others...

"We're just too old for this S#!+"

Many Sydney Clubs have a veteran's team and they play upto 10 games a year plus festivals. But the administration of playing week-in and week-out is just too much when you throw in all the other rugby in this town. Plus making it a weekly competition distracts from the spirit of Golden Oldies. I've only been playing Golden Oldies for a couple of years and I've never played a game that wasn't a draw. How do determine finals from that?

 

[grievous]

Grievous, There's no veterans comp in Sydney because most vetrans are either still involved in their rugby club, their kids rugby or in some cases still playing regular club rugby. Add in the fact that it takes at least an hour to get anywhere in Sydney and to paraphrase so many others...

"We're just too old for this S#!+"

Many Sydney Clubs have a veteran's team and they play upto 10 games a year plus festivals. But the administration of playing week-in and week-out is just too much when you throw in all the other rugby in this town. Plus making it a weekly competition distracts from the spirit of Golden Oldies. I've only been playing Golden Oldies for a couple of years and I've never played a game that wasn't a draw. How do determine finals from that?

no over 35s that Ive known of plays the same number of games as regular comps but they are still stand alone, I wouold have thought with the population in Sydney a seperate comp could be supported. I think many retire because they dont want to or cant play at a level their bodies wont let them, shame to lose them out of the sport. No reason it couldnt be run in the same way the the u85kg comp is and maybe on a fri night under lights so weekends are free for family.

 

[rugbyskier]

If you're in the Snowy Mountains on Saturday 13 August come along to the Jindabyne Sports Ground in Park Road to watch the ACT Veterans take on the Jindabyne Soreboars for the SnowyHydro SouthCare Cup, raising funds for the SnowyHydro SouthCare rescue helicopter service and the George Gregan Foundation. SnowyHydro SouthCare CEO Owen Finegan and John and Jenny Gregan will attend the match and the SouthCare chopper and Brumby Jack are also likely to make an appearance.

Kick-off is at 1:00pm and the SouthCare Cup is a curtain raiser for the Bush Pigs match.

 

[en_force_er]

I dont understand why there is no vets comp in Sydney, Vic, SA, WA all have them, its a real young man's sport in Syd, even to lower grades in subbies

I was shocked to discover ACT just divide whoever rocks up on any given weekend into two teams and they play.

In Vic it's a pretty decent comp with about 8 teams I think, but many do struggle for numbers. It isn't organised though and I always wonder why, let the teams that want to take it seriously look at the ladder and if you don't want to then don't look.

 

[rugbyskier]

I was shocked to discover ACT just divide whoever rocks up on any given weekend into two teams and they play.

In Vic it's a pretty decent comp with about 8 teams I think, but many do struggle for numbers. It isn't organised though and I always wonder why, let the teams that want to take it seriously look at the ladder and if you don't want to then don't look.

Why are you shocked? We play two types of matches - the intra-club 'regular fixtures' where we split into two teams, and fund-raising matches where we play as a single team against a 'representative' team such as RMC, Army Old Boys, ACSC or another club like Jindabyne. Some of our members prefer the intra-club games and other like to play other teams. Our schedule offers them the choice.

A major part of the club ethos is that we are not aligned with any senior club and members have played for a number of the ACT clubs. If players still want to play for sheep stations, there's plenty of spots available in the lower grades of the ACT club comp. That doesn't mean that our matches are easy but there's a definite spirit of playing for the love of the game and not for sheep stations.