Light up Porthcawl

Aim

To enable our teams to train and play this season

Porthcawl RFC is an ambitious club with a long and distinguished history.

We were established in 1880, we have been providing opportunities for children and adults in our community to to participate in rugby ever since. Over the years we have produced a number of players who have had successful careers in the Premiership and Championship as well as British & Irish Lions and Wales international honours. Players such as Clive Williams and Roddy Evans through to household names in the modern game such as Tom Prydie, Ryan Bevington and Dafydd Jenkins.
Porthcawl RFC aid in the development of players that have come through the Ospreys Regional Age Grade Program who then progress to represent the Welsh U16s, U18’s and U20’s teams.

We moved to our current location at South Road in 1979 where we have 2 pitches, 2 car parks and a Clubhouse on site.

Our Senior men's squad currently play in Division 2 West Central. In the seasons before the pandemic, they won the WRU National Bowl in emphatic style at the Principality Stadium as well as securing promotion for the second year in a row having won the League with the fewest points scored against us across all WRU leagues in 2017/18. In the 2018/19 season we beat two Division 1 teams to win the Central Glamorgan District Cup.

Over the decades we have continued to develop and progress thanks to the dedication and commitment of our volunteers and now provide rugby for 13 teams from Under 7s all the way through to Senior Men's and in 2019 we launched our Senior Women's squad, who are now also in Division 2.

We are always looking to grow the game and offer rugby and all the benefits associated with the game for physical and well as mental health and wellbeing to as many people as possible in our community.We are hoping to launch our youngest ever age group 3 - 5 year olds very soon. And will continue to grow our game.

Funding Streams Impacted

However, the last couple of years our Club, like many in our community, has been affected by the impact of the pandemic. Our clubhouse would normally be booked for functions and celebrations. We had a large event planned for the summer of 2020/21 all our plans had to be shelved as income generated by the bar, room hire and functions ground to a halt in 2020 and much of 2021.

What will the funds be used for?

Our existing lights were structurally unsound and a serious safety hazard. Sport Wales has recently made the decision to remove funding for flood lights for rugby clubs in Wales providing us with a major funding issue. While we are actively finding solutions to help deliver the project, we need your help to make our efforts go even further!

With 14 teams training adn playing our pitches, and lights, are in constant use throughout the season and match lights are vital during the winter months.



What else does the club do?
In 2019 we established a women’s team which attracted a mix of experienced women players and those completely new to the sport. We were amazed by the commitment and support as they entered their first league year in 2019/20 season. The team has grown into a squad of players eager to learn and improve in the sport (on and off the field). Our #SheGulls are now in Division 2. We are now also offering Under 18s Girls rugby under the Ogwr Hawks pathway. Our #SheGulls have earned a reputation for being an inclusive, positive welcoming team attracting experienced and new to rugby players alike.

Men's Rugby
Our Senior Men's team are currently in Division 2 West Central. We have a young talented squad, and we are proud that the majority of our players have been developed through our Minis, Juniors and Youth sections.

Mini & Junior Rugby
We have a thriving Minis and Juniors Section, one of the biggest in our region with over 230 registered players from Under 7s right through to Under 16s, qualified coaches and an army of volunteers. The teams are inclusive of all skill sets and age grades – actively encouraging non-members to join us, welcoming people into the club to enjoy our facilities, and our social and fundraising events.
Many of our players have been selected for District Honors.

We very much think of ourselves as a community hub and are proud to offer our facilities to other organisations wishing to use our Clubhouse such as the U3A (University of the third age) as well as Porthcawl Runners.

We hope the changes we have planned will benefit all who use our Club.
We therefore ask you to please donate if you can, so we can continue the progression of Porthcawl RFC now and in the future. We want to be the best we can be. Thank you for your support!



This project successfully funded on 6th October 2022