Sunshine, mud & empty pegs… As I looked squinting into the spring sunshine I couldn’t help but think that it was a shame that the coaches out-numbered the juniors for a second in two events. With preparations for the launch of JJAC potentially coming earlier than predicted, the early part of the year has been far busier than usual. Couple that with the (now lifted) stress of the grant application, to be standing with just four coaches and still have a spare is a bitter pill t

Saturday finally arrived and it was great to be at a junior event once more. It seems like an eternity since the Christmas match at the end of November last year. Mainly because it’s been such a busy winter. Plugging into an existing club to build a junior section is one thing. Having to dig the foundations for a new one is a whole different bucket of frogs. But we are getting there and have reached a state of limbo whilst we wait for the authorities to make their decision on

2025 started as it ended, in a bit of a soggy state. The start of the year began with a coaching session. A messy affair due to the rain over the winter which made Harbourbridge look more like a mud wrestling pit than it did a fishery. Balletic shapes were thrown by flailing arms, as feet moved at 300-miles-an-hour just trying to stay upright on the slick clawing mud. Even the merest though of movement would induce a trouser tightening episode. The most animated of anyone was

I knew I was in trouble when we started the weigh in. The Christmas match always gets to me because I’m crap at saying goodbye to people, even if it is for only a few weeks. But there was a definite finality to this one. The pressure increased as we circled around the lake and by the time I got to Jack on the last peg, I knew I was fit to burst. I decided to make an announcement about the fact that Jack is the last of the original juniors and he would be my last official weig

I pulled back the curtains on another dawn, and another chance to spend some time with ‘my other family’ in my happy place with the juniors. I’m sure people will understand but, the enthusiasm over the last few weeks has been difficult to find. It’s there, it just needs more encouragement these days. My departure from the committee was swift to say the least. Even though I requested it to happen, it has still left me a little numb and deflated. I know a lot of you are concern