How many people does it take to run a rugby club? The answer can be anything from 1 to 200, and most clubs in England are somewhere in between. The vast majority of rugby clubs in England are run voluntarily, with the occasional paid member of staff for roles such as administration, coaching or grounds maintenance. Finding the volunteers with the right skills is one of the greatest problems facing Community Rugby Clubs in England.

This section describes the most common structures for Rugby Club Committees, and gives advice on the roles and responsibilities clubs of different sizes should look to employ. We hope that this sheet will help to answer the questions:

• Which committee positions should our club have?
• Which are the most important, if we cannot fill them all?
• How should we be looking to expand our committee as the club grows?
• What jobs and responsibilities does each post have?
• How should we structure our meetings, committees and sub committees?

The Committee Structure of your club will obviously depend on the size of the club, the number of players and teams, and the ground and clubhouse. It is important to have a clear management structure with a small number of decision-making groups running the Club with agreed policies and affordable budgets.

Management Committee
A small management committee will head the Club’s management and administrative structure. It will meet regularly, take decisions, make recommendations, co-ordinate and delegate to sub-committees and plan ahead. It will comprise Club Chairperson, Treasurer, Secretary, and Chairpersons of the key sub-committees. The Club Chairperson will ensure that sub-committee Chairpersons hold necessary meetings. Sub-committees will be empowered i.e. have delegated authority and accountability, plus an annual budget where necessary. A General Committee comprising elected members and representatives from all Club sub-committees and task groups will only meet when necessary to co-ordinate Club Activities.

Job Descriptions
All key Club Officials will have simple job descriptions, which define everybody’s role within a clearly defined structure. Not only is it important for everybody to understand their own role and responsibility, but it is also equally important for them to see how they fit into the whole picture – what everybody else does and where jobs may overlap.

Terms of Reference of Sub-Committees
All committees and sub-committees will have Terms of Reference as will any Task Groups which may be set up to deliver projects which have a finite timescale for completion.

Effective Committee and Sub-Committee meetings
These will be focused with realistic agendas. Detailed information needs to be gathered and preliminary decisions made outside main meetings, so that meetings can be used to debate policy and quickly reach well-informed key decisions.

The chart below describes what should happen to a club as it grows from an initial structure of a group of friends in a single team, to a strong club with several sections, its own ground and facilities. Identify where your club is on this ‘growth line’ and compare your existing structure to the suggested one below.

The growth of a club	Committee positions required as the club grows
1 - 3 men’s sides, no home venue	President, Chairperson, Secretary, Treasurer and a Fixtures secretary. There will probably be only a single policy making and management committee. The chairperson, secretary and treasurer and team captains will all run the club at this level, concentrating on collecting subscriptions, organising matches, fund raising and arranging social events.
Club gains permanent home ground, and begins to attract more members	The addition of a groundsman or subcontracted groundstaff will be appropriate (NO NOT ON COMMITTEE!). The president will have more of a role in being an ambassador for the club helping it to develop links with the local community. The chairperson will be helping to extend the structure by preparing a development plan. A further addition could be that of membership secretary and social secretary. Club and team captains and coach(es) should become members of a playing/coaching sub committee.
Develops facilities on site, and increases to 1-6 men’s sides, with Mini section. NOTE: Nowadays most Clubs have to start with Minis working up to Youth.	The secretarial role should be split, with a club secretary and fixtures / team secretaries for each side. A Clubhouse manager will be needed to manage the facilities on site and plan further developments as the club expands. A Mini chairperson or secretary and sub committee is also required at this stage, and a coaching development structure should also be considered. Mini section of Club must be integrated within clubs structure.
Club has permanent clubhouse, continues to develop men’s and veterans section, and adds 1 or 2 age group youth sides developed from mini rugby section	The Mini co-ordinating role should expand into a separate sub-committee, with a Junior section (NOT Club) chairperson, secretary, treasurer, fixtures secretary, and membership roles. MUST be part of main Clubs structure. Coaching roles could also become a separate sub committee or a coaching secretary / rep could sit on the main committee and the junior sub committee. Similarly a referees liaison officer or co-ordinator could be appointed to support the qualified referees in the club.
Junior section develops further, with addition of girls and boys minis section. See above now a days usually Minis first Youth second unless Club has close links with a rugby playing school.	At this point the addition of specific positions relevant to working with children are advisable. Some clubs have appointed Child Protection Officers, and a Junior County representative will also be necessary. A schools liaison officer or development officer can play an important role in developing the junior section and creating links with schools. Press and publicity officers are important for a club of this size, to increase membership and interest further and raise the profile of the club.
Women’s section is added to club as number of players continues to increase. Facilities upgraded to include more pitches, changing and ancillary facilities (see RFU/ RFUW facilities strategy for guidance)	A women’s rep on the main committee and sub committee is important. The club will need to affiliate to the RFUW and have a representative to liaise with them. Match sponsorship officers, and a Marketing / publicity secretary or sub committee are also essential for the smooth running of the whole club. A website co-ordinator position could be considered to establish and maintain a website for the club.
Links are developed with County CB programme, so that club now hosts representative squad training and matches.	The role of the County representative(s) for all sections becomes important, and the role of the President and Chairman increases to develop links and show support.
1st XV gains promotion and requires upgraded facilities, publicity and sponsorship; regular promotions soon necessitate paying players.	Paid positions are essential at this stage, with paid administrators, ground staff, bar staff, and possibly paid marketing officers. If players are to become semi professional, legal and employment advice should be sought.

The responsibilities for each of these positions are as follows:

Role Responsibilities

President

• Chairs or ‘presides’ at general meetings especially the AGM.
• Attends meetings in a neutral and uncommitted capacity.
• Acts as ambassador for the club, representing the club at external meetings
• Assists with recruitment where necessary
• May be required to undertake interviews with press / media

Vice President(s)

• Assists President with meetings and decisions
• Takes place of President if he/she is unable to attend any meeting or appointment.
• Point of contact for committee members before the President.

Chairperson

• Chairs meetings of main Management Committee
• Sets agenda and controls discussions in club meetings
• Makes decisions in consultation with other officers.
• Plays an executive role as the principal officer throughout the year. Must plan ahead and be prepared to delegate.
• Acts as a conciliator between 2 parties trying to resolve a disagreement.
• Can act as point of reference for external agencies in conjunction with the Secretary
• Ensures all Club sub committees meet regularly

Club Secretary

• Principal administration officer- the main link between members executive committees and outside agencies.
• Must have good all-round communication skills
• Now a days must be computer literate with access to email.
• First point of contact for an outsider.
• At the forefront of the work of the organisation.
• Writes agendas and minutes in club meetings.
• May produce newsletters/publicity material if no publicity officer exists
• Organises fixtures in smaller clubs

Treasurer

• Should be financially qualified
• Must be able to prepare and set budgets and control costs
• Collects subscriptions
• Agrees/sets budgets
• Administers club accounts
• Appoints auditors if necessary
• Pays registration fees
• Organises team treasurers if necessary and collates all fees
• Prepares income and expenditure accounts and cash flow forecasts (see 4.1 Business Planning & Budgeting)

Fixtures secretary

• Point of reference between league and teams
• Books pitch(es)
• Contacts all team members regarding fixture list and individual matches

Social secretary

• Organises all club social events
• Prepares calendar and promotes events
• Books venue(s), assists with publicity

County representative

• Sits on CB committees if necessary
• Receives minutes and other communications from CB meetings
• Co-ordinates activity within the club as and when necessary

Coaching secretary

• Recruits, encourages, develops and organises training for all club coaches (see 3.6 Coaching)
• Liaises with CB and RFU on coaching courses
• Acts as point of contact for all coaching queries

Referees secretary

• Encourages, recruits, develops and organises training for all club referees
• Acts as point of contact for CB / RFU on courses

Membership officer

• Holds and continually updates data and details of all members
• Assists with recruitment and publicity
• Can assist treasurer with collecting subscriptions

Bar manager

• Responsible for ensuring bar is stocked appropriately before all matches and fixtures.
• Responsible for collecting and banking all money received behind the bar.

Junior club co-ordinator

• Chairs junior club sub committee
• Responsible for all elements of junior section (may delegate to sub committee members)
• Encourages and supports coaches to develop junior players
• Link between parents and club
• Can act as schools development officer if none exists

Schools development / liaison officer

• Committed to developing the junior section of a club
• To create links with and promote junior rugby within local schools.

Press / publicity

• To ensure that the Club has support from the local secretary community and that news of matches and results is published frequently.

Web site co-ordinator

• Develops website with links to others
• Ensures that all information on the website is accurate and up to date.
• Ensures that the website promotes and advertises events and matches in the Club.

Child protection officer

• To ensure that children and young players are provided with the highest possible standard of care by their coaches and volunteers.
• To implement a child/young player protection policy.
• To raise awareness and understanding that abuse does happen in sport and to establish communication and reporting procedures.

 

Women and girls

• Ensuring that as many girls as possible have the opportunity representative to play rugby in a safe and fun environment in which they learn.
• Promote and encourage Women’s and Girls’ Rugby.