Finding enough members to play matches is a major challenge for Drenthe rugby clubs. In order to still be able to enter the field, The Big Stones in Havelte and RC Emmen form a combination team together. “We need eachother.”
For years RC Emmen has been unable to find enough players for their men’s senior team, which has thirteen players this year. “You need fifteen men for a match, but you must have twenty to thirty men to be able to accommodate substitutions and the like,” says board member Daan van der Meij.
For that reason, the team had previously been combined with a German club just across the border. But when that situation became unsustainable due to the long travel time, the team teamed up with the senior team of RC Groningen in the fourth division last season. “The entire fourth class has now expired there and they have divided the other players into three teams.”
For RC Emmen this meant that they had to look for another party to work with for this season. Because without enough players, the team cannot participate in competitions. “You just want everyone to be able to play and everyone to have a good time,” says Van der Meij.
And so the team put their heads together. Merging teams turned out to be inevitable and The Big Stones in Havelte came out as the best match. Because they also have to deal with a shortage of members there, says The Big Stones chairman Harro Hokse. “We were approached by Emmen, but were already thinking about it ourselves. For this season we are on the edge and it will be tight. Then RC Emmen came on our path.”
The players of both teams agreed and the partnership was born. “We need each other,” Van der Meij responds. There is a level difference between the two teams, he says. “Havelte plays a class higher than us, but for our experienced boys that is a great challenge and the new players are also brought to that level under supervision.”
Clustering teams is a common solution at clubs in this region. Also with the youth teams of The Big Stones and RC Emmen. The core of the membership problem is the unfamiliarity of the sport in the Northern Netherlands, according to Van der Meij. Rugby is an unpopular sport in the north, he sees. “Drachten, Leeuwarden, Groningen and Zwolle are well-known places, but you also see a decline there. The more you go south, the more clubs you see and the less they suffer from these kinds of problems.”
In Emmen, people hardly know about the club’s existence, thinks Van der Meij. “When we were in the supermarket with our rugby jersey, we were told: ‘Does Emmen have a rugby club?'” And so the club puts extra effort into promotion to generate awareness. In addition to walking more often in the supermarket with their club jersey, they will also distribute flyers and posters, the club will broadcast the Rugby World Cup and people will be able to participate in six free introductory training sessions from September.
Because although he is happy that there is a solution for next season, he hopes to stand on his own feet again in the long term. “We aim to have our own team with our own substitutions again next year, but that takes time. Until then you have to offer good options to players.”