Fareham Heathens U16's rugby team

Who are we?

Fareham Heathens U16 rugby team 🏉 

Why are we crowdfunding?

The team came to the brink of closure in October of 2022 due to dwindling numbers and availability. The boys from the team pulled together and spent months of their own time canvassing the local area, posting social media content, handing out handmade leaflets in the community, attending local events to raise the profile of their team and their sport as a while in a bid to enhance their squad. Not an easy task in an area rich with other youth rugby and other sports teams, all vying to attract members. 

Through adversity the few players managed to bolster their numbers from 6 to 19 players that we have today. 

Not only did they do this during their GCSE mock year, but they did to such great effect that they played their hearts out throughout the season (borrowing players from opposing teams where necessary to qualify for league progression), to make it all the way to their league Cup final in Alton in April this year where they were only narrowly beaten by the overall cup winners. 

 A truly amazing feat by any standard. 

How we’ll spend the money raised

We are not a cash rich club in any way and the team have used the same training equipment for the last 8 to 10 years. Its all in desperate need of replacement. The balls have no grip left on them, the training tops are all ripped  and all the training kit (plastic cones, markers and such) are broken and mostly unusable. 

The senior club have recently adopted a new clothing provider and it would be the dream of the coaches to be able to subsidise bundles of that new playing kit and the match strips to our young players, along with purchasing new training equipment. Previously, we have had ask the players parents to buy this for their sons.

With the economic pressures of the current times and with our area not being particularly wealthy, boys have frequently had to share kit on match days in the past. Far from ideal and an alien concept to any other club in the region that our boys have faced in their rugby journey. 

It would be our dream as coaches and parents to also offer our boys a tour at the end of the season by where they could take themselves up against another regions teams before they hang up their boots, or go on to form the Colts team for the club - this is the U18 team that play together for 2 years before they would het a chance to play at club level for the senior team. A dream come true for lads that have played together for over a decade!

The opportunities such an event would provide stretch far beyond the field of play for people at their stage in life. 

All the other teams our boys have faced (that haven't endured the hardships encountered by Heathens) have had the good fortune to enjoy such tours at the end of their previous seasons. Our players have never had such an opportunity. 

The team have trained hard over the summer to ready themselves for the beginning of this final season and I (along with the other 2 coaches) honestly believe that the Heathens U16 team have all the makings to not only complete their rugby journey together as a strong, hard working team of players and friends, but to finish well and to be proud of all they've achieved over the years, not to mention the fact they've bounced back from almost extinction within 11 months. 

Community impact

The players all come from varying backgrounds and have mostly been together since the age of 5 or 6 with us at the club.

They have enjoyed the development of their social skills and lives through the experiences of the games they play with other children from the local area and the south east. 

The values and standards promoted through the club are harnessed by the boys and they develop themselves to project these into their peer groups outside the club and I to the wider community. 

As coaches, we have heard many positive stories of our boys' deportment and exemplary behaviour in their community. 

They are a credit to us all. 

How you can play your part

There are four simple ways to help us reach our target, and make this project a reality.

1. Make a pledge. Don’t delay if you’re going to support us because momentum is key to our success!

2. Spread the word. Share our project on your social media pages and tell the world to get behind us! The more people we reach, the more support we will get.

3. Offer rewards. Get involved if you are a local business by donating things we can offer to our supporters. We will give you a shout out!

4. Fundraise for us. If you want to run your own fundraiser – maybe a sponsored activity or similar – use the 'contact project' button at the top of our page to let us know. Setting up your own page only takes a few minutes and you won’t need any bank details. Just a fun idea!