NatWest RugbyForce: Cranleigh campaign building numbers
Cranleigh RFC have been building to the NatWest Rugbyforce weekend with spruce up sessions at their Wildwood Lane home.
Having enticed people down to help with free beer and Gallagher Premiership matches on TV after DIY sessions, this weekend will see the finish of a drive to paint the clubhouse, changing rooms, deep clean kitchens and landscape the grounds.
There will be 25 volunteers there with their families making sure the club is ready to welcome players old and new.
On Sunday they will discover whether an anticipated increase in player numbers translates to registrations. Whereas they normally get 30 to 35 senior players along to training at this stage, they have had about 60 after a dedicated marketing campaign and distanced fitness sessions.
Silverback Studios, a local company run by the dad of a junior player, is a keen club sponsor. They helped launch the ‘Cranleigh Needs You’ marketing campaign, coordinating posters and leafleting with targeted Facebook ads and social media coverage.
Past players have returned and new ones have been brought along by members, all helped by the club starting their distanced fitness training as soon as guidelines allowed.
Said Nick Hendy, the club’s Communications and Media Secretary: “I believe 100% that people are really keen to get back to exercising and we capitalised on that, while following all the government guidelines. At the same time, we have updated our marketing and branding and have brought a professional edge to the way we run the club.
“We have a cameraman and a professional photographer at the club and they have helped hugely. Also, one of our former players, whose dad helped to found the club, works in media and marketing and he and I have tried to update and simplify the brand and how we are looked on by the outside world. The challenge has been how to communicate that we are actually a very friendly, down to earth and community-based club, but pushing that message outwards in a harder, more modern way."
The junior section started summer training as soon as government and RFU guidelines allowed. Youth Chairman Paul Denyer said: “Of course owning our own ground allowed us to train straight away in the summer. We spoke to parents to see if there was a desire for it and the answer was a resounding yes! I think that the kids were desperate to socialise and have fun as a group again.
“Then new players started to arrive. In many ways, doing short sessions and without the technical aspects of tackling and rucking, made it far more accessible for new starters to give it a try. And, of course, the good weather was a bonus!
“The advertising campaign seems to have brought increased numbers at every age level and we are just hoping that on Sunday we will see more registrations than ever in what will by then be a very smart clubhouse."
