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PARTICIPANT MEMBERSHIP FOR COMMUNITY GAME


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So the cat is out of the bag, the RFL are determined to destroy the community game by asking players, coaches and volunteers to PAY THE RFL for the privilege of giving up their spare time ensuring the game still has a future.

This is a sure fire way to kill off the game and will see coaches, parents turn their backs on the sport. 

The RFL and unfortunately BARLA are in my opinion showing their are not fit to manage the game below the professional level.

Let's be brutally honest here, the community game is largely self funding, clubs pay their own insurance, pay for several courses a year be it touchline managers, first aider etc. They also pay for their own DPS checks. Most community clubs receive NO FINANCIAL SUPPORT from the RFL, all funding for facilities comes via Sport England.

the support the Community Clubs receive from the RFL is minimal at best. With the exception of the NCL the majority of league admins are all local volunteers who run the leagues themselves.

Any money raised through players subs etc. is used by the junior club to plough funds back into their own club to reduce running costs. 

So how can the RFL justify this tax on playing?

the only part of the game which receives hand outs is the professional game, who rely on the amateurs to supply them with players, so why are we allowing the tail to wag the dog, as without a healthy community game there won't be a professional game !! 

WHY ARE WE INTRODUCING A MEMBERSHIP?

For many years, discussions have taken place about the sustainability and development of the Community Game, meaning a membership scheme would be required and these discussions stepped up in earnest towards the end of 2019, with the RFL and your Community Board working in partnership to develop a model that would work best for Rugby League.

 

To date, the RFL has been using the strength of its relationships with Government and Sport England to cover the central costs of the Community Game, but there has been very clear guidance that all sports, quite rightly, must look at ways of becoming more sustainable and membership is a clear and obvious way of continuing this vital journey.

 

Also, we want to be able to raise our own and additional funds so that we can do all we all want to do to shape and grow the Community Game.

WHY ARE WE DOING IT NOW?

The plan was to introduce the membership in 2021 but, recognising the uniquely challenging circumstances of this season, it was agreed to postpone the launch date to the 2022 season.  But we cannot delay any more as we have been discussing this for many years and we need to show our partners at Sport England and wider government that we are moving towards being a self sustaining sport, as they, quite rightly, require all sports to be.

HOW WILL IT HELP THE GAME?

Our own membership will enable us to have surety of funding and help us plan a longer term vision for the Community Game. It will also enable us to support the clubs and leagues even more, ensuring they’re getting the things they need to continue to grow the game in the way we all want to do.

WHAT DOES THE RFL DO FOR THE COMMUNITY GAME?

  • Safeguarding including DBS approval, Risk Assessments, investigations and compliance with legal responsibilities.
  • Central Operating System for the Game to manage Registrations and Competitions. - local leagues and BARLA managed this for years
  • Competition Provider for RFL Member League Competitions - all competitions ran by local leagues
  • Insurance Support - let leagues sort their own insurance then
  • Match Official Recruitment, Development and Support - mostly voluntary at community level and clubs pay match fees
  • Our League – learning, development, and resources (virtual activity, health and wellbeing)
  • Education Courses, Safeguarding & Protecting Children, First Aid, CPD on Our Learning Zone - clubs pay to go on these courses and RFL won't hold courses if not enough participants to cover costs
  • Club Support,
  • Annual Club Health Checks - who for?, I've never known a community club ever have a 'health check', its the professional clubs who are in debt and run at a loss
  • Development Plans - what development plans? participation levels have fallen like a stone under the RFL's governance
  • RLWC Ready Plans - how does this benefit community clubs
  • Club Accreditation - benefits the few
  • Facility Development & Support - funded by Sport England not the RFL
  • Funding Development and Support
  • Volunteer / Recruitment / Development and Support - funded by the clubs and there is very very little support for community clubs

WHAT IF PEOPLE CAN’T AFFORD THIS MEMBERSHIP?

The RFL will work in partnership with the Community Board and the clubs to make sure that people who genuinely can’t afford this membership will be able to continue to play.

WHAT ABOUT FAMILIES – SOMETIMES PEOPLE WILL HAVE THREE OR FOUR PEOPLE TO PAY FOR?

The RFL will work in partnership with the Community Board and the clubs to agree how a family membership will work to ensure they are supported.

WILL THE MONEY ONLY SUPPORT THE COMMUNITY GAME OR BE USED FOR THE WIDER SPORT?

The money that is raised from the membership fees will be ringfenced and used only for the Community Game.

WHAT BENEFITS WILL I GET FROM TAKING OUT MEMBERSHIP?

The introduction of a membership programme is to ensure the future of the Community Game but we want to reward people for giving this support so one of the questions on our survey ‘Shaping the Participants Membership is asking what benefits people would want. However, it is confirmed that insurance will be included in the membership benefits package – which will relieve the burden of paying this from clubs – and DBS checks will also be covered for coaches. There will also be a range of discounts (match tickets, merchandise etc) and possibly a monthly or quarterly draw to win money can’t buy RL prizes and access to members only content on the Our League app.

WHAT IF I HAVE OTHER QUESTIONS

Please email ourleagueactive@rfl.co.uk – we cannot confirm we will respond to every email but we will certainly read them all and take all views into account as we shape our membership.

DO OTHER SPORTS HAVE MEMBERSHIP SCHEMES?

Most other Sports do have Membership Schemes for their participants, yes.

I PAY SUBS/MEMBERSHIP TO MY CLUB DOES SOME OF THE MONEY NOT COME TO THE RFL?

In others sports community clubs pay some of their subs to support their governing body but this does not happen in rugby league.  All of the costs of supporting the community game in rugby league are currently covered by government and this is unsustainable.

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Clubs do not pay for their DBS, they are free for volunteers unlike most other sports, the FA charge £10 per volunteer and with this scheme clubs will not have to pay for insurance, at my club the last bill was around £1200 for insurance so that is a big saving.  My kids cycle as well as playing rugby and they pay a membership to British Cycling and to a club. 

In saying that I think there needs to be more benefits with the membership, maybe free access to games on our league

 

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4 minutes ago, Spidey said:

Running a sport comes at a cost. How much is the membership?

Looks like around £20 for kids and £30 for adults. 

If sport england funding is being cut then money needs to come from somewhere.

Maybe some of those leagues, NCL yorkshire juniors, north west juniors etc  with loads of money in the bank can help pay for this.  Why are they not helping coaches pay for courses instead of sitting on the money they get from league fees or fines?

Did I hear correctly that some junior leagues charge £75 per team, what do the teams get for that?    

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32 minutes ago, Impartial Observer said:

Did I hear correctly that some junior leagues charge £75 per team, what do the teams get for that?    

They get to play rugby league

 

Volunteers are dwindling, maybe this is the way forward to ensure all provisions are in place through the governing body, and we’re no so reliant on volunteers
 

RL is relatively cheap to play compared to some other sports/activities

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Have the RFL entered into any type of dialogue with regional leagues and clubs in regards to enforcing membership fees on individuals within clubs.

The RFL took over the running of what was the amateur game from BARLA around 2003 or 2004, and in the preceding 17-18 years has the game at that level improved, has participation increased since the days when it was ran by a bunch of volunteers?

If the RFL are unable to run what is a predominantly local league format financed by the member clubs of the leagues and ran on a volunteer basis by local administrators then maybe a conversation needs to be had about setting up a new organisation or brining BARLA back into the fold to run the community game 

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I don't like it, for a number of reasons:

  • I think, politically, it's a great way to turn people against you
  • Making the community game more expensive could have an adverse effect if it starts to impact on player/volunteer numbers
  • Some of the benefits are questionable - although insurance is fine, my question would be how that works. Since it's public liability insurance, I don't see how it can be applied to an individual. Would there be a minimum number of people paying before your insurance kicks in? I don't see how individual participants can confer a club benefit. It doesn't seem to suggest that a person gets their own health/loss of earnings cover for injuries sustained through Rugby League, making it zero benefit to a participant (and therefore a harder sell).
  • At £30 per person, which I assume would include volunteers (although it doesn't specify either way, possibly because it'd be too unpalatable as part of their announcement), you're not really getting a lot for your money. Insurance for your club (not for yourself), discount on match tickets/merchandise - what match tickets? What merchandise? As someone outside the heartlands, realistically, is this discount going to give me any benefit at all? Also, discounts aren't a benefit unless I'm already going to purchase those products. Free DBS checks for coaches, fine, but that's the sort of thing most clubs would pay for already, I imagine. Also also, discounts are snide because you know they're going to offer a discount for Challenge Cup final etc and other things that they can't even sell out right now.
  • Not specifically linked to this programme, but the RFL coaching courses are already higher priced than several other sports at the entry level - now you're asking coaches to pay an extra £30 per year to volunteer. Madness.
  • Lots of vagueness around the method to ensure that participants who can't afford it don't have to pay. How are you going to deal with that on a national level? Far easier to let it be dealt with more locally.
  • Also lots of vagueness around which other sports have membership systems - I'm heavily involved in a Rugby Union club and there's no participant fee, although clubs do pay an affiliation fee to the RFU and to their CB (constituent body, essentially the counties who have responsibility of running the sport at the amateur level within their counties).

 

Based on their survey, where there's no option to say "this isn't a good idea" but instead can only choose from their pre-approved options, it seems like they're pressing ahead with this, come what may. I now get why they're so keen for every volunteer to be registered on their system!

I also think it's a horrendously lazy way out - 'the community game is already a lifeblood so why not pump it for more money?!' What the RFL SHOULD be doing is:

  • Hosting regular England internationals and trying to generate revenue streams. No need for a discount on these tickets - PEOPLE WANT TO WATCH THEIR NATIONAL TEAM and they're happy to pay for the privilege. 
  • If there has to be a fee per participant, it should be a lot cheaper and paid VIA THE CLUBS. People don't like having to pay a second time for things (look at how people would rather pay £25 for a product with free shipping than pay £20 + £5 shipping) - so you're making it harder for both club AND RFL to collect money. A participant fee of around £5-10 (even £10 is pushing it) per player for a season, paid via the clubs out of their subs money would work better. Clubs could then choose, if they wanted, to pass on the cost to their members, or could choose to pay it some other way.
  • Actually coming up with a long-term vision for the community game. At the moment it's "pay us and we'll come up with a vision." There should be a vision already in place! Also, a vision doesn't have to include the need for lots of money - just an idea of the direction of travel. For example, if I wanted to start a new club - what resources are there for me? What information is out there? If the vision is or includes, for example, to grow the women's and girls' game - are there coaching cards for people who haven't coached much before so they're doing games that new players will enjoy? Is there a page on their website about creating a good environment? I can tell you, as someone who has been setting up a new club, that most of this stuff just doesn't exist. Come up with a "How to Start a New Club" pack - taking lots of good examples from clubs who have done just that and every person who wants to start a club has an easier time of it. FWIW, the guy at the RFL I worked with was great and had lots of good information for me - but I shouldn't have to send 3/4 emails to find the right guy and then go through that process one-to-one. It's so time inefficient. There should be a ton of resources on the website about how to get yourself set up, how to recruit players at different levels, how to market yourself as a club etc etc.

 

I've actually had to stop here so I can go to work, but I'm sure I'll have more thoughts. The RFL talk about a consultation with the game that led them to this decision, but I can't see how they could have consulted with anyone outside their own organisation. It's actually baffling - their overarching goal must be to grow the game right? This decision looks like it's got a better chance of shrinking it.

 

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Oh well said Sir  !!🙌 

To me it isn't about the money, its about transparency. 

  • the RFL need to come clean with the regional leagues and let them see first hand what it costs to run the community game and also how and where the money is spent.
  • The RFL fought for years to take over the running of what was a prosperous amateur competition from BARLA.
  • The Regional Leagues were ran in their entirety by volunteers, so now the RFL are saying they can't afford to offer a service previously supplied free of charge ?

The survey smacks of desperation by a group of people at the RFL trying to justify and save their own jobs.

The reason BARLA was formed in the first place was to save the regional leagues from the mismanagement of the RFL.

It looks like history may repeat itself !!

 

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On 20/04/2021 at 13:09, Death to the Rah Rah's said:

So the cat is out of the bag, the RFL are determined to destroy the community game by asking players, coaches and volunteers to PAY THE RFL for the privilege of giving up their spare time ensuring the game still has a future.

This is a sure fire way to kill off the game and will see coaches, parents turn their backs on the sport. 

The RFL and unfortunately BARLA are in my opinion showing their are not fit to manage the game below the professional level.

Let's be brutally honest here, the community game is largely self funding, clubs pay their own insurance, pay for several courses a year be it touchline managers, first aider etc. They also pay for their own DPS checks. Most community clubs receive NO FINANCIAL SUPPORT from the RFL, all funding for facilities comes via Sport England.

the support the Community Clubs receive from the RFL is minimal at best. With the exception of the NCL the majority of league admins are all local volunteers who run the leagues themselves.

Any money raised through players subs etc. is used by the junior club to plough funds back into their own club to reduce running costs. 

So how can the RFL justify this tax on playing?

the only part of the game which receives hand outs is the professional game, who rely on the amateurs to supply them with players, so why are we allowing the tail to wag the dog, as without a healthy community game there won't be a professional game !! 

WHY ARE WE INTRODUCING A MEMBERSHIP?

For many years, discussions have taken place about the sustainability and development of the Community Game, meaning a membership scheme would be required and these discussions stepped up in earnest towards the end of 2019, with the RFL and your Community Board working in partnership to develop a model that would work best for Rugby League.

 

To date, the RFL has been using the strength of its relationships with Government and Sport England to cover the central costs of the Community Game, but there has been very clear guidance that all sports, quite rightly, must look at ways of becoming more sustainable and membership is a clear and obvious way of continuing this vital journey.

 

Also, we want to be able to raise our own and additional funds so that we can do all we all want to do to shape and grow the Community Game.

WHY ARE WE DOING IT NOW?

The plan was to introduce the membership in 2021 but, recognising the uniquely challenging circumstances of this season, it was agreed to postpone the launch date to the 2022 season.  But we cannot delay any more as we have been discussing this for many years and we need to show our partners at Sport England and wider government that we are moving towards being a self sustaining sport, as they, quite rightly, require all sports to be.

HOW WILL IT HELP THE GAME?

Our own membership will enable us to have surety of funding and help us plan a longer term vision for the Community Game. It will also enable us to support the clubs and leagues even more, ensuring they’re getting the things they need to continue to grow the game in the way we all want to do.

WHAT DOES THE RFL DO FOR THE COMMUNITY GAME?

  • Safeguarding including DBS approval, Risk Assessments, investigations and compliance with legal responsibilities.
  • Central Operating System for the Game to manage Registrations and Competitions. - local leagues and BARLA managed this for years
  • Competition Provider for RFL Member League Competitions - all competitions ran by local leagues
  • Insurance Support - let leagues sort their own insurance then
  • Match Official Recruitment, Development and Support - mostly voluntary at community level and clubs pay match fees
  • Our League – learning, development, and resources (virtual activity, health and wellbeing)
  • Education Courses, Safeguarding & Protecting Children, First Aid, CPD on Our Learning Zone - clubs pay to go on these courses and RFL won't hold courses if not enough participants to cover costs
  • Club Support,
  • Annual Club Health Checks - who for?, I've never known a community club ever have a 'health check', its the professional clubs who are in debt and run at a loss
  • Development Plans - what development plans? participation levels have fallen like a stone under the RFL's governance
  • RLWC Ready Plans - how does this benefit community clubs
  • Club Accreditation - benefits the few
  • Facility Development & Support - funded by Sport England not the RFL
  • Funding Development and Support
  • Volunteer / Recruitment / Development and Support - funded by the clubs and there is very very little support for community clubs

WHAT IF PEOPLE CAN’T AFFORD THIS MEMBERSHIP?

The RFL will work in partnership with the Community Board and the clubs to make sure that people who genuinely can’t afford this membership will be able to continue to play.

WHAT ABOUT FAMILIES – SOMETIMES PEOPLE WILL HAVE THREE OR FOUR PEOPLE TO PAY FOR?

The RFL will work in partnership with the Community Board and the clubs to agree how a family membership will work to ensure they are supported.

WILL THE MONEY ONLY SUPPORT THE COMMUNITY GAME OR BE USED FOR THE WIDER SPORT?

The money that is raised from the membership fees will be ringfenced and used only for the Community Game.

WHAT BENEFITS WILL I GET FROM TAKING OUT MEMBERSHIP?

The introduction of a membership programme is to ensure the future of the Community Game but we want to reward people for giving this support so one of the questions on our survey ‘Shaping the Participants Membership is asking what benefits people would want. However, it is confirmed that insurance will be included in the membership benefits package – which will relieve the burden of paying this from clubs – and DBS checks will also be covered for coaches. There will also be a range of discounts (match tickets, merchandise etc) and possibly a monthly or quarterly draw to win money can’t buy RL prizes and access to members only content on the Our League app.

WHAT IF I HAVE OTHER QUESTIONS

Please email ourleagueactive@rfl.co.uk – we cannot confirm we will respond to every email but we will certainly read them all and take all views into account as we shape our membership.

DO OTHER SPORTS HAVE MEMBERSHIP SCHEMES?

Most other Sports do have Membership Schemes for their participants, yes.

I PAY SUBS/MEMBERSHIP TO MY CLUB DOES SOME OF THE MONEY NOT COME TO THE RFL?

In others sports community clubs pay some of their subs to support their governing body but this does not happen in rugby league.  All of the costs of supporting the community game in rugby league are currently covered by government and this is unsustainable.

Good post and a good example how people who have never or barely scratched the skin of running an amateur club haven't a clue, it's the same mentality IMO why we are struggling to increase participation in the heartlands, gone are the pub teams set up buy two guys in a bar, these clubs gave the enthusiast who are limited in playing skills the chance to have a game.

Carlsberg don't do Soldiers, but if they did, they would probably be Brits.

http://www.pitchero....hornemarauders/

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On 20/04/2021 at 16:53, Spidey said:

Running a sport comes at a cost. How much is the membership?

Additional extra costs for something that is being forced on to you and not life or death is an unnecessary extra cost and just because one sport makes their participants pay doesn't mean we have to follow, it's getting like the CSCS scheme in the construction industry, we'll be paying to have a certificate to blow the match day balls up soon.

Carlsberg don't do Soldiers, but if they did, they would probably be Brits.

http://www.pitchero....hornemarauders/

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On 20/04/2021 at 18:34, Death to the Rah Rah's said:

Have the RFL entered into any type of dialogue with regional leagues and clubs in regards to enforcing membership fees on individuals within clubs.

The RFL took over the running of what was the amateur game from BARLA around 2003 or 2004, and in the preceding 17-18 years has the game at that level improved, has participation increased since the days when it was ran by a bunch of volunteers?

If the RFL are unable to run what is a predominantly local league format financed by the member clubs of the leagues and ran on a volunteer basis by local administrators then maybe a conversation needs to be had about setting up a new organisation or brining BARLA back into the fold to run the community game 

BARLA would need a good clear out and modern thinking installed, it could be done but it would need the management structure changing, the problem is, how do you get into a position to change it for the better, in the past you could have your say at a monthly meeting and get the support of the floor, they now meet once a year and do polls by email, who counts those emails.

Carlsberg don't do Soldiers, but if they did, they would probably be Brits.

http://www.pitchero....hornemarauders/

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14 minutes ago, Marauder said:

Additional extra costs for something that is being forced on to you and not life or death is an unnecessary extra cost and just because one sport makes their participants pay doesn't mean we have to follow, it's getting like the CSCS scheme in the construction industry, we'll be paying to have a certificate to blow the match day balls up soon.

There aren’t enough volunteers knocking around. There’s just enough to keep clubs running let alone the admin required for running leagues. There’s more bureaucracy in all walks of life nowadays. There’s no way of getting out of it I’m afraid. The sport needs to adapt to carry on

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A proportion of TV money and gate share from finals and test matches should pay for the running of the community game.

if that means the pro clubs have to tailor their contracts to suit, then so be it.

The RFL need to be fully transparent and prove how much it costs to run the community game and also how this money is spent.

at that point the clubs may or may not agree that payments in some form or a one off payment by clubs are required

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53 minutes ago, Spidey said:

There aren’t enough volunteers knocking around. There’s just enough to keep clubs running let alone the admin required for running leagues. There’s more bureaucracy in all walks of life nowadays. There’s no way of getting out of it I’m afraid. The sport needs to adapt to carry on

Got to agree and the volunteering group is getting smaller and smaller with every change that comes with a price tag, maybe a member of these committee's should have served 10 years at a grassroots club and learn what makes them tick, the struggles to get players to sign on, the struggles to get subs on a match day, I could go on about how it's like pulling teeth to get a team on the park on match days (Then with all the extra and unnecessary duties you don't get to see the game)

I totally understand to carry on we have to toe the line, I've a theory, stop having think tank meetings on subjects that are not broken, for some reason those who attend seem compelled to make change.

Carlsberg don't do Soldiers, but if they did, they would probably be Brits.

http://www.pitchero....hornemarauders/

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So the game struggles for volunteers now, so going to make people pay £30.....aye alright. Your pool of volunteers will shrink overnight. Getting players to pay subs and signing on fees now can be in some cases nigh on impossible getting them to shell out more money, can't see some paying that they'll just walk away.

 

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10 minutes ago, johnmatrix said:

So the game struggles for volunteers now, so going to make people pay £30.....aye alright. Your pool of volunteers will shrink overnight. Getting players to pay subs and signing on fees now can be in some cases nigh on impossible getting them to shell out more money, can't see some paying that they'll just walk away.

 

We've always had a signing on fee (£35.00 now) will we have to waver this well needed funding to pay it to the RFL. Here is a pointless course at amateur level IMO Clean sport advisor.

 

Carlsberg don't do Soldiers, but if they did, they would probably be Brits.

http://www.pitchero....hornemarauders/

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4 hours ago, Death to the Rah Rah's said:

what's a clean sports advisor?

 

A Clean Sport Advisor plays an essential role in informing athletes and their athlete support personnel (ASP) about the values of clean sport and important anti-doping information. Who is this for? The course is for anyone wishing to improve their knowledge of clean sport and increase the reach to protect clean sport.

Carlsberg don't do Soldiers, but if they did, they would probably be Brits.

http://www.pitchero....hornemarauders/

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2 hours ago, Death to the Rah Rah's said:

Well that’s useful for the community game ! 🙄

Absolutely

  There is evidence/ knowledge of significant use of illegal  social drugs within Community players,. When tested results  cause problems.

Check out recent RFL decisions on players caught out once moving up to semi pro and a better testing regime....

 

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14 hours ago, del capo said:

Absolutely

  There is evidence/ knowledge of significant use of illegal  social drugs within Community players,. When tested results  cause problems.

Check out recent RFL decisions on players caught out once moving up to semi pro and a better testing regime....

 

You will NEVER eradicate some players taking steroids or social drug taking at any level of non professional sport, and I’m covering all sports not just RL.

sure you can educate, but is it the clubs responsibility or the governments?

I honestly don’t know the answer, and unfortunately neither do the government or it wouldn’t be a problem 

 

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14 hours ago, del capo said:

Absolutely

  There is evidence/ knowledge of significant use of illegal  social drugs within Community players,. When tested results  cause problems.

Check out recent RFL decisions on players caught out once moving up to semi pro and a better testing regime....

 

Where is the evidence/knowledge.?  In your position in the game you should be letting The RFL or UKAD know about your evidence/knowledge so it can be investigated 

Plenty of rumours and no doubt there are players who are taking substances.

The same testing regime is used in the Pro game and the community game, testers can can arrive at training or matches and check players. 

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On 23/04/2021 at 20:55, del capo said:

Absolutely

  There is evidence/ knowledge of significant use of illegal  social drugs within Community players,. When tested results  cause problems.

Check out recent RFL decisions on players caught out once moving up to semi pro and a better testing regime....

 

I've never smoked or taken any illegal drugs, it takes me all my time to take prescribed drugs from the doctor, I'm sure most at my age group are in the same boat when it comes to drug taking (It boils my urine) If we want to clear up social (I hate it when drugs are labelled social drugs) drugs we'd have just about no one playing any sport in the world.

How do we combat it ? 

Carlsberg don't do Soldiers, but if they did, they would probably be Brits.

http://www.pitchero....hornemarauders/

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7 minutes ago, Marauder said:

I've never smoked or taken any illegal drugs, it takes me all my time to take prescribed drugs from the doctor, I'm sure most at my age group are in the same boat when it comes to drug taking (It boils my urine) If we want to clear up social (I hate it when drugs are labelled social drugs) drugs we'd have just about no one playing any sport in the world.

How do we combat it ? 

How do we combat it? In all honesty Marauder I don't know.

It is a societal issue. My after match 5 + pints  and a sleep on the couch has in part been replaced by a line in the toilets ( on  hopefully rare occasions I am told  even in the clubhouse ). And that is before the body building steroids that brought our game in to so much disrepute  10 or so years ago are brought into the debate.

For the moment we have to rely on testing. Little of that happens in the Community game  if at all at present because of the costs involved. The  RFL  are probably under pressure from the Government / Sport England  to improve on that - central funding yet again a problem......

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On 24/04/2021 at 11:46, Impartial Observer said:

Where is the evidence/knowledge.?  In your position in the game you should be letting The RFL or UKAD know about your evidence/knowledge so it can be investigated 

Plenty of rumours and no doubt there are players who are taking substances.

The same testing regime is used in the Pro game and the community game, testers can can arrive at training or matches and check players. 

Would the players stop around while being treated to the high disciplined scrutiny of the testing officers?

I personally don't think so.

Carlsberg don't do Soldiers, but if they did, they would probably be Brits.

http://www.pitchero....hornemarauders/

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