I am delighted to announce that as of the 1st November 2006 Rugby Gold Coast Ltd will be running the affairs of Rugby on the Gold Coast.

I take this opportunity to both thank and congratulate Ron Carroll and his Management Committee and all their predecessors for a job well done.

The foundations have been laid for Rugby on the Gold Coast to fulfill its potential and the newly appointed Board is under no illusions about the enormous task that lies ahead.

Business Plan

The business plan, including the 2006/07 budget and cash flow projections has been submitted to the Queensland Rugby Union which includes our request for the initial seed capital funding for a two-year period, agreed to by the QRU at our initial meetings with their representatives in 2005. 

The 2007 Partnership Agreement with the QRU has been signed and the first installment of capital funding will be forthcoming this week.

New Staff

After an extensive interview process for the position of C.E.O. we selected Mr. Tim Rowlands formally the General Manager of the Gold Coast Breakers.   Tim’s business expertise and Rugby background is outstanding.  In all we interviewed 14 applicants and we were ably assisted by Tabitha Pearson, Manager Human Resources, Conrad Jupiters, who ensured that proper governance was conducted.

Please join me in congratulating Tim on his new role and support him in his endeavors to grow our business.

We are also delighted to announce Elton Flatley has accepted the role as Ambassador for Rugby Gold Coast.

Advertisements for the positions of Operations Manager, Development Officers and all Cyclone 2007 coaches for RGC have closed and interviews for those positions have been completed.
I am pleased to announce Dale Salmon and Ralf de la Mere will be filling the positions of Development Officers for RGC.  The successful candidate for the Operations Manager will be announced in the coming weeks.  Also the entire Cyclones coaching staff will be announced officially next week.

Facilities

The new RGC offices are at
‘Industry Central’
240 Varsity Parade,
(Lake St Entrance)
Varsity Lakes 4227

The postal address is
PO Box 103,
Bond University, 4229.

Phone     07 56575166
Fax         07 56575159
 
Email      This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

RGC’s website www.rugbygoldcoast.com.au will be launched in coming days.

2007 Competition Workshop

We will be holding a competition workshop for all stakeholders on Thursday 23rd November 2006 at RGC Office commencing at 6.00pm.
Invitations and the Agenda will be posted out to Members by the end of this week.
This is your competition and we want to hear from you on the best way to move forward.

Major Representative Match at Carrara

We have been asked to host trial games, in partnership with the QRU, between the Reds & Samoa on Sat 20th January and the Reds & Highlanders on Friday 26th January 2007 at Carrara Stadium.
This will be a major revenue opportunity for Rugby Gold Coast.

It is intended that junior Club sign ons will be conducted at Carrara Stadium on both the 20th and 26th.  Clubs will be encouraged to have their tents, banners, flags and as many players as possible available.  We will also be seeking volunteers from all member Clubs to assist with both games.  GCCC has also indicated it may stage Australia Day activities at Carrara Stadium through out the afternoon as well.

NPC

Steering committees have been established for the two Queensland NPC teams.
The South East Queensland team’s committee consists of a representative from Sunnybank, Souths, Easts, Qld Country, the QRU and the Breakers (Warren Carey)
Hopefully there will be announcement soon as to the name, colours and where the team will be playing its home games.
Coaches Clinic
RGC will be conducting a Coaches Clinic at TSS from 25th to 28th Jan 2007.
All rugby coaches on the Gold Coast will be invited to attend this Clinic with special guest coaches including John Connelly, Alex Evans, Eddie Jones being invited to run various sessions.

We look forward to working positively with all Rugby stakeholders with our aim to make the Gold Coast the next major professional Rugby region in Australia.

 

Yours in Rugby



Murray d’Almeida
Chairman
Rugby Gold Coast Ltd