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Maidstone Rugby U14s Fundraising Idea

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI am sure that many parents of youth rugby players will have shared the trials and tribulations of fundraising efforts on behalf of their blissfully unaffected offspring!

So, it is not without some pride (& huge relief) that we managed to get the Maidstone Rugby U14s squad Race Night & Raffle completed successfully on Saturday 22nd February.

We’re lucky that one of the squad parents is the Deputy Head of a local Academy School and provided us with a great venue for our modest endeavour.

A race track marked out in squares on the floor with blue insulating tape; large red & yellow foam dice; and “horses” made of broom handles with cardboard cut out heads – no frills but plenty of thrills.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAWe auctioned the “horses” to determine the owners, and then took bets on the Tote (two club ladies with heads for numbers). Six horses per race – throw both dice – number on red is the horse to move – number on yellow is the number of squares to move – first to the finish is the winner.

The house keeps 30% of the owners pool and 30% of the Tote takings and the rest goes to the winning owner and holders of winning bets.

We also introduced a raffle to bring in additional profit. All prizes were donated so the cost to the club was £2 for two books of raffle tickets.

We sold 1200 tickets to around 130 attendees and took over £500 on the raffle alone. We raised an additional £1,00 on the races – bringing our total to over £1,500 – enough to cover the bulk of the costs of a planned trip for the boys to Gloucester in April to see the local derby match with Bath and get some coaching in.

FRN Involvement

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAWe were aware of FRN’s fantastic efforts to promote rugby, and especially local rugby clubs, and so we were in touch with FRN early in our planning. To our delight they were interested in our efforts and very supportive, even providing some donated raffle prizes – witness the snapshot of our flame haired winner sporting a rather fetching FRN top!

It’s great to be recognised and so we all at Maidstone Rugby thank FRN for helping us make a success of our fundraising night, and for all their efforts in promoting rugby at all levels. Keep up the good work FRN – we’ll be watching!

Finally, a big thank you to all of our various other prize donors, to our organisers and to our guests, without whom the boys’ Gloucester trip could not become a reality.

By: Roger Berry


About Ellaine

Ellaine is the founder of FRN and author of "Mini and Youth Rugby: Complete Guide for Coaches and Parents" (published October 2015). She has been playing rugby union for over 10 years in the UK and the US for teams including Oxford University Blues, London Wasps, Henley, NOVA, and GWU. She has recently developed a love for rugby 7s and has played on several international rugby 7s teams. She also enjoys playing touch rugby and regularly plays for the FRN Mixed Touch Rugby team. She is passionate about helping others develop a love for rugby. View all posts by Ellaine

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