As many know, Bromley RFC 1st XV won the RFU Senior Vase National Final at Twickenham beating West Leeds 20-10. Not only was this an amazing experience but it was the best send off for those who are leaving, including me after 7 seasons.

I wanted to publish a few posts summarising the entire season from my eyes, to show what it took to keep players fit every week for every game. Hopefully this will give an insight into amateur rugby and what it takes for a club like Bromley RFC to achieve a National trophy after a long arduous season.

Pre-season for me started late June where I attended training sessions on Tuesday and Thursdays. Pre-season typically for me is looking after lower leg issues and the re-introduction of contact. Lots of ice baths and manual therapy pretty much! Lots of grazes and cuts from the dry ground, shint splints and tight calves were the common causes of pain for the players.

The start of the season was a success on the pitch and treatment room. 6 wins out of 6 then a top of the table clash v Horsham where we narrowly lost. Leading into December, none of the squad sustained an injury in a match which I was extremely happy with. But as many amateur clubs know, numbers at training dwindle to scraping a game of touch around October/November.

The days became darker, earlier & the weather turned from mild to bad, to bad to worse. Poor numbers at training equates to less conditioned players & the increased risk of injury. Cold weather made the players less likely to use the ice baths, which I understand. But injury prevention and rehab isn’t seasonal, it’s constant throughout the season.

With numbers poor, it gave me the opportunity to work with the players who were carrying injuries. The more time I can get with each player, the better. The ice baths were a hit in the warmer days as the players enjoyed it more after the a tough session. Queues for the ice baths were longer than the queue for treatment. So far so good from my opinion, but it was still a struggle to get some of the partially injured up to get treatment or assessed.

We finished November with a record of 7 wins, 1 draw & 1 loss in the league. We beat Eastleigh in the cup & Lewes cried off in the next round in November.