As Christmas approaches I I would like to take the opportunity to wish Seasons Greetings to everyone associated with the Outlaws and reflect on the year as a whole.
This year has seen the “return” to a normal season after two seasons badly interrupted by Covid and once again play a complete season without any restrictions.
So, with this in mind I am in no doubt that the most important thing to come out of 2022 is that the Outlaws are back and running as normal! We survived the pandemic and have got our ship back on course whilst continuing to provide rugby league to the local community.
That is reason enough to celebrate this year!
As I look back in more detail over the last twelve months there are certainly more highs than lows and we have made many positive strides across the whole club.
If we start with the Juniors we have basically had to start from scratch, but the response has been terrific with nearly 100 juniors now registered and numbers growing strongly as the season progressed. Paul, Sian and the rest of the Junior RL team did a great job in rebuilding our junior section and we expect continued growth next year! Watch this space!
Progressing to the women’s team, what can I say other than “fantastic work” to “Stocko”, Stu and Violet for again, rebuilding the squad and in doing so, creating probably the most successful arm of the club in terms of growth and results obtained. Well done all of you!
Both of our men’s teams have had a challenging year at times but at the same time have registered some good performances along the way. Of course we fulfilled all of our fixtures (something many teams in our division failed to do!) and despite a few heavy defeats we have seen some positive signs of improvement and expect better things next season.
As Chairman it is my job to keep one eye on the pitch but it is also probably equally (if not more) important to keep the other eye on what happens off it. And I have no doubt that 2022 has seen us start to make some real progress off the pitch.
Our club can’t run without significant amounts of money and the launch of Project 40 (to celebrate 40 years of rugby league in Nottingham) has already seen us secure the funding to install new floodlights at our ground, a fantastic achievement after only six months of fundraising with more improvements planned in the new year. Watch this space!
Finally. None of the above could be achieved without the dedication the small but hugely dedicated band of people that make sure that we continue to exist as a club. These include our coaches, our ground maintenance team and everyone who helps out on match days. Indeed, I wont mention names but you know who you are and I want to take this opportunity to say “thank you” and wish you a great Christmas and New Year.
So to all of our volunteers, players, and supporters can I wish you all a very merry Christmas and I for one cant wait to see you all again in 2023 for what is going to be a huge year across all sections of our great club!
Richard Johnson
Chairman