With the 2010/2011 Ulster Bank League complete, the attention quickly turns from the post mortem of the past campaign to the season ahead – a chance for all clubs to start on the same foot and challenge for new honours in the 2011/2012 Ulster Bank League in their division.
Rugby at the professional level will always receive the highest profile, but a growing and vibrant club league is crucial to the ongoing success of the sport. Local clubs and club players are the life-blood of the game and the Ulster Bank League in 2011/2012 will no doubt showcase some of the stars of the future senior international scene.
Ulster Bank strengthened its link with Irish Rugby last year, becoming the Official Community Partner to the IRFU, a partnership which includes title sponsorship of the All-Ireland Club League along with the Irish Club International team until 2014.
Our drive into the heart of rugby in Ireland, into the club and the community, was highlighted with the creation last year of a new club volunteer initiative, Ulster Bank RugbyForce, a programme designed to help unite club members and local volunteers to improve their club and community rugby facilities. An excellent response saw clubs from all over the country enter with four lucky clubs winning €5,000 worth of goods and resources. The four winning clubs (Wexford Wanderers RFC, Ballina RFC, Thomond RFC and Ballymoney Rugby Club) took part in the recent Ulster Bank RugbyForce Winning Weekends, which brought together their members to spend the day renovating their facilities. See www.ulsterbank.com/rugby for more details and look out for your chance to enter your club in next season’s Ulster Bank RugbyForce programme.
We are greatly looking forward to next season and wish all competing teams the very best of luck.
Ellvena Graham, Director of Business Services Ireland, Ulster Bank.
