On the cusp of a new era in Central West Rugby Union, the Cowra Eagles have announced Ian Robertson as its new president for the 2018 season.
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Robertson confirmed his position to the Cowra Guardian on Thursday afternoon, while also unveiling an overhaul to how the club will operate.
Three “work streams” have been designed to give every general committee member a chance to contribute, with multiple vice presidents appointed to take care of the three “areas of focus” – football, Saturdays and assets and planning.
Colin Kilby was elected vice president of the football group, Nick Tedeschi vice president of the Saturdays group and Ben Casey vice president of assets and planning.
The changes were passed at the club’s annual general meeting on Wednesday night which attracted a hugely positive number of more than 40 people.
“When we started looking at the fight to get into tier one that started the belief that if we want to be competitive at that level, not just today and tomorrow but into the future, then we had to change the way we were managing things,” Ian Robertson said.
“People want to contribute but don’t want to feel like they have to do it 24/7.”
Kilby’s football group will work closely with the coach, focus on player recruitment, selection and game day related jobs.
Tedeschi’s Saturdays group will focus on ground set up, canteen, raffles and programs, while Ben Casey and the assets and planning team will look at development, policy and processes.
“What we’re looking at doing is have specific people run a work stream that then will call on other people to assist them,” Robertson said.
With CSU Bathurt to fill the void left by Cowra in the top tier colts premiership in 2018, Eagles players who are eligible for colts will play second grade.
Robertson slammed suggestions of Cowra wanting the students to use the Eagles’ moniker.
“There has never been any indication that there’d be any change to the CSU identity all they are doing is playing as their colts in tier one,” Robertson said.
“We have no want to dilute any club’s identity.”
Robertson said the club’s goal ahead of 2018 is qualifying for the finals in each grade – firsts, seconds and women’s – while also continuing the positive fiscal nature of the club and “making sure everyone has a lot of fun”.
The club’s secretary for 2018 is Nicole Spolding and treasurer is Mark Meiklejohn.
People want to contribute but don’t want to feel like they have to do it 24/7.
- Ian Robertson
