: What Do We (the Club) Do When We Aren't At Practice?? :

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." - Theodore Roosevelt

Over the last couple decades Vacaville Blackdog Rugby Club has taught the game of rugby to hundreds of high school athletes.  The club has had great success on the field and our times of growth, but our Club is ALWAYS working and growing behind the scenes.  

This is 100% what we do and some of the problems we face running this club.

We (the coaches) wish we could spend the majority of our time planning practices and working with the kids, but we have many more responsibilities than just coaching.  Some of the questions we ask ourselves on almost a daily basis are:

Where are we going to practice? 
What equipment do we need? 
How much money do we have? 
How do we raise more money? 
Is everyone registered?  
Did everyone pay their dues? 
How do we help those who can't afford their dues?
How do we get more people to play? 
How do we get more PARENTS involved?
... that covers the major ones.

Especially this season fields have been a major issue.  We started the search for fields in October, and we are still searching for a place to call home.  Yin Ranch works, but we can't use the grass when it's been raining as much as it has.  The City has a moratorium on all of their fields... can't use those.  The school district is a whole other issue in itself to say the least, but we are currently allowed to use the blacktop only at Jepson Middle School.  Vacaville Christian School has the only all-weather, lit, field in town available to rent.  So that means EVERYBODY wants to use it.  We have been lucky enough to get our home games there.  It is a cycle of endless emails, phone calls, sending schedules, waiting, being told no, being told yes and then no and then maybe, there was even a petition to be allowed to use city fields.

Needless to say, we all spend a lot of our time on fields and still try to tackle all those other questions as well. We are also working to make sure the athletes are as prepared as they can be for their games.  It is no easy task running this club, but we continue to do it because we love rugby, we love teaching to those who want to learn, and because we are probably a little crazy.

So maybe this motivates you to help out, maybe it doesn't, but here's how you can help.  You can volunteer to organize food and drinks for socials. You can volunteer to help do fundraisers or get donations.  You can volunteer to help coach during our youth program this summer.  You or someone you know can donate money (and write if off) to something other than jerseys.  The way to be the MOST helpful, donate to paying for fields/lights.  It can be upwards of $60/hour to rent a field, that's almost $1,000 a month just on fields!  The possibilities are pretty endless.  Please feel free to shoot us an email, vacavilleblackdogrugby@gmail.com or message us on instagram or facebook if you want to help, have ideas, or want to come to the next board meeting, we would love to hear from you!