Playing rugby with an association has been possible in Meppel for two years now, but real competition matches have not yet been played in the city. Until now, because rugby club The Black Panthers is getting a full-fledged rugby field. On September 24, the association hopes to be able to play the first official rugby match.
“In essence, it does indeed come down to a full-fledged rugby field,” says trainer Erik Graafland. “We cannot permanently install the lines alone. We will have to apply them again with lime before each match.” This is because the rugby club is moving to the ice rink of the Meppeler IJsclub, which does not use the grass field in the summer months.
The Black Panthers recently trained on a side field of football association MSC. “We were able to grow very nicely there,” says Graafland. Because the association is still young. The club was founded two years ago by a group of friends. The board of the association consists entirely of women and focuses mainly on women and girls, although anyone can become a member.
“But this summer there will be major maintenance on the fields of MSC,” the trainer continues. “That is not such a problem for the football teams, they are not training now anyway. But we wanted to continue training.”
The rugby women have been training on the ice rink since June. “It’s a fantastic field for us”, says Graafland. “It’s no problem at all for the ice cream club. We just can’t go here when it’s freezing.” Then the ice club wants to flood the field so that skating can be done. And the ice club would also like to be able to use it in the period from December to February. “We have to find a solution for that period. We’ll figure that out.”
The association is not yet large enough to independently participate in the competition of the rugby union. Last season, Meppel therefore played together with Rugbyclub Sneek, which was then renamed The Black Sneeks. “It is expected that we will have to play about six to eight home games in the competition. We can then play half of the games in Meppel on the new field.”
Apart from the lines, another adjustment is needed on the field itself. Apart from the light poles, the lawn is completely empty. The rugby club recently ordered the required rugby posts. However, they cannot just go into the ground, because there is a layer of foil under the grass that prevents water that is sprayed on the grass for skating from washing away. The piles can therefore not go too deep into the ground.
In addition, the ice club does not have a dressing room or a canteen. The solution for this has been found at the adjacent baseball and softball club Blue Devils. Exactly in the periods when there is no baseball, rugby is played and vice versa, so that the rugby players can use the nearby canteen and changing rooms. “Everything just falls into place here.”
In 2021 we made the following report about the establishment of The Black Panthers