Rugby

WITH the league campaign beginning in earnest on the first Saturday in September, County Cavan Rugby Football Club"s preparations are right on schedule. The senior squads have been back in full training since the beginning of August with club captain Gary Browne determined to improve on last years performance. This year will prove a considerably tougher prospect for Cavan"s 1st XV with a number of new teams promoted to Qualifying Three. It is Gary"s intention to cement their position in the top five of the league. His sights will not be deflected from a comprehensive and all-out effort for cup glory. In recent years Cavan have found themselves as bridesmaids in their cup runs, this is something that Gary along with his squad intend to reverse. Beaten in Longford On Friday night last Longford RFC travelled to Swellan Park for a pre-season friendly. Team manager for Cavan 1st XV Matt Keenan had instilled in his players that they were to focus on defence. While the final score line was 7-0 in favour of Longford, the home side stuck to their task and it was their well co-ordinated defensive work that forced Longford to step up the pressure in order to break the line. The real positive that came from Friday"s match was the team work that Cavan displayed, with excellent support play and good lines of running. First Lady Captain County Cavan RFC will, for the first time in the club"s history, field a Ladies XV for the season 2008/09, with Kathleen Dawson taking the role of captain. As Ladies XV captain Kathleen is looking forward to the challenge that comes with competitive rugby. She expects to have her team entered into the Ladies developmental league and that their first match with be later on in September. Joy Sparks from Ulster Branch Ladies Rugby will be visiting the club to assist in the ladies team"s preparations. Training for the ladies began last season and they have been training right through the summer months with head coach John Loughnane preparing them for a full season of competitive rugby. Training for the ladies is on Tuesdays at 6.30pm and new players are always welcome. The development of a Ladies XV is yet another positive step forward for County Cavan RFC and is very much in keeping with the three year development plan for the club. Juvenile Training Training for all of the juvenile squads, U14, U16 and U18, began last Thursday at 7pm. There was a strong turnout for this session considering that many of these young rugby players are still involved with GAA commitments. This year sees a new Youth Convener at Cavan RFC. Kevin Gormley has taken over the responsibilities of the juveniles with outgoing convener Kevin Carrahill taking more of a backseat for this season. Training for the juveniles will continue every Thursday from 7 to 8.30. Busy year for executive The coming season looks set to be a very busy one for this year"s management committee at Cavan RFC. There are a number of initiatives that will be expected to progress at a pace. The first of those is the proposed development of the clubhouse facilities. Work on this project has been ongoing over the summer and tenders are now back with the executive. The next step will be to appoint a contractor and get the work started. This year should also see a fresh approach to the social aspect of the club. Cavan RFC has quite a proud tradition when it comes to social events. To that end a new Social Committee will be formed in an effort to put a more structured approach to the social calendar. Undoubtedly this will have a very positive effect in relation to fundraising which is the other essential element that will need plenty of work and dedicated commitment from all the members of the club.