Club colours: an open letter from the Senior VP

1. Assistance with some of our U 15’s side.
2. A $5,000.0 sponsorship from the Full Moon Hotel.
3. BBQ staff during sign on period earlier this year.
4. The senior clubs donation of their Barter Card credits which will substantially support our trophy day.

There has been numerous moments of support over recent years, in 1997 sponsoring the junior club when we were unable to pay some our accounts, from 1998 – 2003 providing field marshals and catering staff for the state carnivals and championships held at North’s and since 2001 a ready acceptance of invitations to attend training sessions for our senior teams, we only had to ask.

With the re emergence of North’s as a substantial Premier Grade force, there is now an opportunity for the juniors to once again run around in common colours, a reflection of ourselves as the providers of an ongoing and long term supply of quality players through the ranks and on into the senior ranks of our senior club, as some of us are aware this process has already started with the 86’ers and several following years of juniors already making their way into the senior ranks along with their volunteer base.

These ex juniors have contributed to this year’s seniors success. For those of us not aware of our heritage, I will give you a short history.

The Northern Districts Rugby Football Club emerged at the end of the 1990 season as a result of the QRU’s attempt to shore up quality rugby in the northern suburbs. It was the union of the Redcliffe and Teachers North’s RFC’s and was located at the Teachers North’s grounds at Shaw Rd as they had the most substantial infra structure.

I came along with the Redcliffe contingent and on the whole the amalgamation of the two bodies went with little stress. John Muir was the new clubs first President in 1991 and I held that post for the 1992/93 seasons. We made the finals in 1992 and didn’t win a game in 1993. The next few years were extremely bare. But both seniors and juniors played in common colours, a decision made with the amalgamation.

When an unlikely benefactor took over the ailing club in 1996/97 and changed the club to the Barbarians, a decision unpopular with the ARU, the juniors took the step to play in common colours. It was unfortunate that when the seniors changed again to their now playing colours they for some reason seem not to have consulted the juniors.

That was ten years ago and a long forgotten time. The time is right to re-engage with the seniors for all things rugby. This will not extend past our playing objectives. The seniors and the juniors are answerable to separate senior and junior playing bodies and as such will always remain administratively apart.

This is the formula practiced by all the senior clubs with junior affiliates, Brothers, East’s, West’s, GPS, South’s and so on. I will be putting a motion to the AGM that the junior body takes up a change in club colours to more closely indicate our ties to the senior club and take up the ‘Eagle’ as our symbol and once again call ourselves the ‘Junior Eagles’.

Back to the future. Yours in Rugby

Tony
Anthony J. Braithwaite (Senior Vice President)

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